When We Cross Paths
by Dawn1973
Summary: After a terrible set up, Max's reputation is ruined forever. She is one of the most wanted people across New York. Two boys are on her case. Fang and Iggy. These boys capture Max, and they are considered golden. However, they turn out to be the ones that set Max up and got her into this mess. How will their relationship end up? Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm Dawn. This is a Maximum Ride fanfiction and it's my first fic. Please feel free to review and give your feedback. Hope you enjoy!**

**These are the ages:**

**Max- 16**

**Fang- 17**

**Iggy- 17**

**Nudge- 16**

**Gazzy- 17**

**Angel- 10**

**Ella- 16**

**Dylan- 17**

**No wings! (Don't get me wrong, I think their wings are awesome, but they just don't go with this story)**

**Iggy is not blind!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or its characters. All credit to James Patterson.**

Chapter 1

Max POV.

So, apparently, I missed that part in my life where luck decides to jump on my side and make everything seem amazing.

Maybe it's just me, but being chased by some douches with guns just because I stole some candy bar is just not cool. I mean, that bar means nothing. One second its there and the next it's eaten.

I dart into another ally. Plastic bags are scattered here and there, and broken glass litters the damp ground. It's dark between the two aging buildings, so I blindly pick up my pace, hoping not to face plant into the ground.

Once I'm on some street again, I take out the candy bar from my hoddie pocket and shove it in my mouth. What if they do catch me, and then I wouldn't be able to eat it. Better wolf it down now.

I shove past the people, all rushing somewhere. They all have impassive faces, not even slight smiles. No compassion whatsoever. That's just how New Yorkers are.

I look behind my shoulder, and see that the cops are rapidly catching up.

Crap.

I push myself to run faster, but my feet are giving up on me.

I spot yet another ally, and promptly turn there. I press my back to the cold wall, and try to catch my breath. I think I got away.

They have been on my case for a while now. A couple of years.

I'll admit, stealing that candy bar wasn't the real reason I'm being chased.

I'm being chased mainly because I was caught spying at some important meeting that had to do with the government. I didn't even spy though. I was set up by some criminals.

I still remember them quite clearly. There were two.

James and Nick.

Damn, I cringe when I think back at how naive I was to trust them.

They said that if I go into the Minueta, which is where that fancy shmancy meeting was held, and get some ring, which is apparently wicked valuable, they would give me shelter and food.

I believed them since I was a desperate clueless idiot, and was caught. I managed to get away with the ring, and get to the boys. But that incident ruined my reputation forever.

The boys ditched me with the ring, and I haven't seen them ever since. We were around 13-14, so it's been quite a while.

I peek out of the ally. No one.

Slowly I start to walk back to my friends. Well, they would be more like acquaintances. Not quite friends.

I brush off my worn jeans that started to tear along the stitchings. My old black hoddie isn't in the best shape either. The newest thing I'm wearing is my black boots. I "borrowed" them from the corner store near my place. They keep me somewhat warm during this bleak New York winter.

I yank my honey-colored hair into a messy high ponytail. It already reaches my waist. I haven't had a hair cut since I lost my parents. And my house. And my everything…

I shake the depressing thought out of my head. No need to make my crappy mood even crappier. If that's possible.

I reach the small shelter and walk inside.

"Oh good, you're alive," Gazzy says.

"Yup, still breathing," I roll my eyes. " So where's Nudge Angel and Ella?"

"Left," he shrugs.

"Where? To the corner store again?" I ask, flopping down on our only chair.

He nods and takes out a cigarette. He sticks it in between his teeth, and I jump up and snatch it out.

"You think that's cool, or something? Where did you get it? You know we can't be wasting money on this kind of crap," I wave the cigarette in his face.

He groans and yanks it out of my hand, "I wasn't going to smoke."

I raise an eyebrow, and he cranes his neck to the left, gesturing me to look there.

I turn around and see a pile of fabric, some kind of powder and a few bars of soap.

Before I can respond, Gazzy lights the cigarette and tosses it in the pile.

"Gazzy! What…" I start to scream, but he drops to the ground, and yanks me down with him. We roll out of the shelter, and in seconds it bursts into flames.

I stand up, in shock.

"Gazzy! What the hell! It took us forever to build that!" I exclaim.

"It's for the best, Max," he calmly says, cracking his knuckles.

"How the hell is that for the best?" I scream at him.

"I saw some people snap pictures of this place. They were suspicious so they most likely will call the police to inspect our shelter. Then, we would all be screwed. My bomb blew up the leading indication of our whereabouts," Gazzy explains.

I just start at him, surprised at the fact that for once in him life he did something smart.

"Wow," I say, "I guess the rumor of you missing a brain is proven otherwise. Congrats."

He glares at me, and I just push past him and head to the corner store.

I have to find Nudge, Angel and Ella, and tell them that we are not semi-homeless anymore, but completely homeless.

Fang POV.

"Yo Ig," I shove Iggy off the bed.

The poor alarm clock has been trying to wake him up for half an hour now. He kept slamming it.

"Iggy!" I violently shake his shoulder.

He groans loudly, but keeps his eyes shut.

I sigh. "Alright. I guess I have the girls all to myself then."

This got him up.

"Girls? What girls? Where?" he springs to his feet, his eyes wild.

"We're going to school, remember?" I smirk.

"Oh, right," Iggy realizes.

"Get ready. School starts in ten," I say, and walk out of his room.

I head to the kitchen to grab something to eat. It's in a different building than Iggy's room and mine.

You see, we are working for the police. We search for criminals, catch them and bring them straight to jail. It's basically our job, but we don't get paid in money. We get paid in our freedom.

We ourselves are pretty much criminals. We ruined our reputation utterly, back when we were young and idiotic guys. We were always being chased, and could never really live a normal life. That was a result of making really stupid decisions like robbing and selling illicit things.

We only did it to survive, but were still considered criminals. Even though we were all around 11.

By 14 years of age we were tiered of being runaways and decided to bribe someone with the power to close our case. To get money, we had to steal something valuable and sell it.

Of course, we couldn't steal it ourselves since we were known throughout most of New York. So we found this girl, Maximum Ride, and made her steal the Minueta ring. She was caught, but got away.

She was stupid to believe us, and we were stupid to ditch her after she brought the ring to us.

I feel a little guilt for setting that girl up and ruining her life. Just a little. She should have been smarter.

We sold the ring, and got the money. We eventually found a man named Mr. Janner willing to close our case in return for it. He also gave us this job. He's the main chief of this police station, and he may seem like a horrible cop judging by the fact that he accepted our bribe, but he's not.

He himself was a runaway and he knows what it's like to be hungry. You would do anything to get food. He closed our case and offered us this job, since he knew we did what we did only to survive. He also enrolled us in a school.

Ever since, we've been living here and going to school like normal teens. We changed our names from Nick and James to Fang and Iggy. No one knows we are that Nick and James that were one of the most wanted, except for Mr. Janner. You can say we got lucky. Very, very lucky.

I grab a banana and some rise crispy treats.

Once I'm out the door, I get in my car and drive to school.

* * *

"Hey Fang!" I see Lissa wave in the hallway.

This is our first day from our two-week vacation, and she already annoyed the crap out of me. Yes, just her hello annoys me.

"Hi! I missed you so much!" she shrieks and throws her arms around my neck, lifting her feet from the ground.

"Hi," I mumble, awkwardly shoving her off me.

She just stands there and smiles like an idiot, slightly pulling down her skirt. Or is it just a piece of fabric? I can't tell.

"See you around," I quickly say and side step her.

Whew! Just looking at her is punishing my eyeballs.

I barley make it to my calculus class, and get a dirty look from Mr. Jenn. He's always in a bad mood.

"Alright class, do this worksheet and pass it in," he mumbles lazily. "J.J. pass this out," he flops the papers on J.J's desk since she's in the front row, and goes back to his desk.

He has a grotesque and fat body. And no, he doesn't have a double chin, he has a freaking quadruple chin.

Pretty disgusting actually.

Truly, the class can run without him and nothing would change.

J.J. comes to my desk and hands me the paper. She flashes a white smile, and I nod my thanks.

She's a cool girl. Iggy and I sit with her at lunch and hang out occasionally.

I start doing the problems, but before I can finish the front side I'm called on the intercom to the office.

I look up, surprised but at the same time somewhat worried. Worried because Iggy was called also. What if it has something to do with our dark past?

I wipe my hands on my black jeans and get up. I feel the whole class looking at me as I weave through the desks.

I get out of the class and walk to the office, taking my sweet time. Eventually though, I arrive.

The door is wide open, so I softly knock on the wall.

"Oh! Fang is here. Come in, dear" I here Mrs. Privel trill. She's the principle of this school.

Mrs. Privel is always calm and affectionate. Everyone loves her.

I come in, and find Iggy already there.

"Hey man," I greet him.

"Janner is here," he whispers.

I raise an eyebrow, and Iggy jerks his chin towards the farthest corner of the room. Just as he said, Janner is right there. He and another officer.

Mr. Janner, the police chief.

A million thoughts pass through my head of why would he be here. I look at Iggy, and he looks as confused as I feel. Although I know my face is impassive.

"Hello boys!" he comes up to us.

"Good morning sir," we greet him.

"Sorry to pull you out of your class, but I have an important matter to discuss. Please follow me," he gestures with his hand and walks through another door in the office and into another smaller room. The other officer comes with us.

We all sit down around a small table, and Mr. Janner starts to go though his folder.

Just the sound of ruffling papers and the ticking clock is somewhat intimidating.

Finally, Mr. Janner starts to explain. "I know you boys work really hard. You blend in, you are experts at catching whom you need to catch. So, I have a proposition," he looks at us, waiting for some reaction.

He won't get one from me, since my face shows about as much emotion as a brick, but Iggy looks genuinely interested.

Mr. Janner continues, "We have been trying to catch a certain spy for a long time now. We always fail, unfortunately. She was last time seen in this city, New York. She is 16 and has been on the loose for three years. We are trusting you two to find her and bring her to us. Here are her files. Look through them and get ready. You're leaving tomorrow," he slides the papers across the desk towards me.

I open the files, and start skimming through them. There were a bunch of medical records and statistics, but what really held me was her image.

She's looking behind her shoulder, a fierce scowl on her face. Her unkempt sandy hair is fallen in her eyes.

I know her. I know this girl. I can almost say her name. I just can't remember completely.

I swallow. "What's her name again?" I think out loud.

I flip through the files for her name, but Mr. Janner says it, and it hits me like a bus.

"Maximum Ride."

**Please review and tell me what you think :D**

**~Fly on, Dawn ****J **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sup hommies! **

**So, I recently found out that the ninth Max Ride book is coming out soon! It's been known for a long time, but I live under a rock so…**

**I'm soooo happy though! YAYYYYY!**

**OK, I'll shut up now…**

Chapter 2

Max POV.

"So you're telling me that blowing up our only house was the right decision?! Are you out of your mind?" Ella exclaimed, "All my clothes and makeup are gone now! Gone!"

Ella paced back and forth on the empty street, frustrated. She's not taking this too well.

"Ok, so a couple of things here Ella. First of all, the only clothes you lost is that shirt you got from the lady on the street who noticed you're homeless. Second, you didn't have any makeup. And no, the half empty lipstick doesn't count. Third, if Gazzy didn't blow up the house, we would loose our freedom, so yes, it's the right decision," I try to explain.

She looks at me blankly, and rolls her eyes once she realizes I'm right.

"So what do we do now," Nudge yawns, looking exhausted.

I sigh, not knowing what to tell her.

"Well, I guess we can just hang around Central Park and then see from there," I try.

"What if the police find us?" Angel wonders, sitting on Gazzy's lap. They're siblings and love each other unconditionally. I sometimes find myself feeling somewhat jealous of their close bond. An amazing feeling I never had.

"They won't," Gazzy consuls her, stroking her blonde curls.

"We'll be all right, Ange, don't worry about anything," I say.

"Ok, lets move," Nudge agrees, standing up from the sidewalk.

We all wordlessly walk towards the park, all lost in our own thoughts.

We were never close. We didn't quite trust each other enough to treat each other like real friends. The only reason we stick together is because it guarantees us a longer life.

I met Nudge first during my third night on the streets of New York, when I was eleven.

I clearly remember that sickening feeling of confusion. Everything was a blur. I didn't know where I would sleep, or where I would get food, or how I would survive.

I came up to a girl to ask her for some money. I didn't want to beg, but I was practically dying of starvation.

She had wild caramel colored hair and mocha skin. It was Nudge.

Our first encounter with each other wasn't very pleasant. She told me to get lost. Being the idiot I was, I jumped her, determined to get some money.

That shows you just how hungry I was.

She started to scream, and that's how I met Gazzy. He came to the rescue for Nudge.

I ended up fighting Nudge and Gazzy until the cops broke us up.

We spent that night in jail, but it was the night that brought us together. We came up with a crazy plan to escape, and it surprises me still how it worked.

Well it did.

We worked as a team (cliché, right?), and got out. From then on, we helped each other, although never fully trusted one another.

Gazzy introduced us to Angel. Later on, we met Ella and decided to let her join our group since she looked awfully sick.

I still don't know the reason they ended up on the streets, and I don't ask.

Hopefully it wasn't for the reason I ended up on the streets. I wouldn't want even my worst enemy to go through what I've been through.

Fang POV.

"Out of the whole freaking world it had to be her!" Iggy threw another shirt into the small suitcase, loudly pacing around the room.

"I know, it sucks," I say.

"Do you have any idea of what could happen?! If we catch her, she'll recognize us and turn us in. Then we'll rot in jail. If we don't, then we'll be considered sissies for not being able to catch a freaking girl!" Iggy groans.

"Don't you think I know that? How about you stop freaking out and do something useful like think of what to do," I offer.

He sighs loudly, and flops down on the sofa.

"Ok, what do we do?" he asks, more calmly now.

"Well, I was thinking that we could catch her, but before we bring her to the station, we can make a deal. You know she will remember us and how we asked her to steal the Minueta ring. So we can tell her that if she doesn't turn us in, we will make sure she will be free," I explain.

Iggy slowly nods, letting this sink in.

"And what if she sill turns us in?" he asks.

I shrug, "We'll figure it out. But I'm positive she won't if we offer her freedom."

"But we won't actually set her free, right?" Iggy says.

I laugh lightly, "Of course not."

Iggy smiles, "We're leaving in an hour then."

I smirk back at him. Time to meet Max. Again.

**AN: Sorry it's a little short, but I just wanted to update a quick chapter. **

**In the next chapter, Max and Fang will meet! It won't be a pretty meeting though…**

**Oh and I wanted to say that in this story Ella and Max aren't sisters.**

**Please review! Thanks!**

**~Fly on, Dawn :D **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: "When life gives you lemons, squeeze them in peoples eyes"**

**I feel like that's better than making lemonade… -.-**

**Whatever, on with the story…**

Chapter 3

Fang POV.

I look out the car window, and all I see is the same bare trees coated in snow.

Same scenery for two freaking hours.

I would love to get on with catching the chic, but apparently we have to see some officer on the other side of New York. He is supposed to tell us everything about Max and discuss her exact accusation.

I know exactly of what she's being accused of because Iggy and I are the ones who caused it, so I consider this as a huge waste of time.

Of course, they don't know that and they won't find out.

"Are we there yet?" Iggy whines like a little kid.

The driver gives us a dirty look through the rear view mirror and just keeps driving.

He doesn't seem too thrilled about this trip either.

Officer Janner stayed at the station, so its just Iggy, this driver we don't even know, and me.

So it's totally possible that the driver could be some axe-murderer.

Iggy suddenly slaps me lightly on the shoulder.

I turn too him, and he has his nose pressed to the window, again like a five year old.

I think he might be one trapped in a 17 year olds body…

"Look," he says in awe.

I glance out the window, and my jaw drops. I see a colossal marble building, with luxurious statues lining an extremely wide driveway.

And the most amazing part, we turn there.

"Thank God!" Iggy exclaims, "We're finally here! And wow! That's not what I expected!"

The driver halts the car, and waves to us to get out. "I'll be back in an hour to drive you two back to the city," he says in a raspy voice.

"Alright, thanks," I say, and we get out of the Mercedes.

Iggy barley shuts the door and the driver already skids away.

"I don't think he likes us," Iggy says.

"No, I don't think he likes you. You're the one that called him 'Miss'," I chuckle.

"It's not my fault he looks like a fifty year old woman from behind," Iggy glares at me.

We walk up the stone stairs up to the double door, still amazed at the size of this place. It might be the largest house I've ever seen.

Iggy rings the doorbell, and we wait. And wait. And wait…

I ring it several more times, until we're ready to just give up. But the door suddenly opens.

"Oh, gosh. Sorry it took so long. I just had to run here from the other side of the house. Come in! Make your selves at home!" a girl says.

She looks to be about in her twenties. Her hair is a deep brown and is tightly twirled into a slick bun. Her large blue eye sparkle under the bright light. She's wearing a small black dress with a white apron.

She steps out of the doorway and we come inside.

I glance over at Iggy, and notice him staring at the girl.

I inwardly roll my eyes. He's never going to get a girl, but he'll keep trying.

"So, we're here to see…" I start but she cuts me off, talking really fast, "I know, Officer Kain. He'll be right out. For now though, you came make yourselves comfortable on that sofa. I'll go bring refreshments."

She walks away, and Iggy drops on the sofa.

"I wouldn't mind this kind of house. With that kind of girl," he wiggles his eyebrows.

" Only in your dreams, man," I say.

I know, very optimistic of me.

"Actually, she's into me," Iggy proudly says, locking his hands behind his head and putting his feet on the wooden coffee table.

I come and sit on the recliner. "And what makes you say that?" I ask him.

"It's scientifically proven that when a girl is into you, her voice gets really high. And did you hear that girl?" he says.

"Well that explains why half the girls that talk to you sound like batman," I point out.

He glares at me, and I mockingly smile at him. Before he can say something back, the girl returns.

"Alright, I have sparkling cider or just water. What do you boys prefer?" she asks in her sweet voice again.

"The cider for me," I say.

She gives me a thin glass flute with the drink and I nod her my thanks.

"Same for me, milady," Iggy grins.

She gives him a weird look and passes him the glass.

"Wanna exchange digits," Iggy offers, trying very hard.

She just looks at him and says, "Officer Kain will be available in ten minuets."

She walks away, and Iggy looks hurt.

"Maybe next time?" I try to make him feel better, but he just glares at me again.

It's okay. As soon as he sees another female he'll get over it.

A silent ten minuets pass, and the officer finally arrives.

"Good afternoon, boys," he says in his deep voice.

He's tall, with dark hair and an empty expression on his face.

"Hello sir," I stand up and shake his hand.

"Good afternoon," Iggy does the same.

"Follow me to my office," he starts to head towards the door at the end of the hallway.

We walk behind him right into the room.

It's very spacious, with a huge wooden desk in the middle. A small couch sits in the corner and there are paintings decorating the tan walls. It smells like fresh paint.

On the desk, everything is freakishly organized. Even the paper clips are ordered by size.

"Sit," he gestures to the two plastic chairs in front of the desk, while he sits on the leather chair behind the desk.

We do as he says, since he seems a wee bit intimidating.

He takes a deep breath and folds his hands. "Maximum Ride," he starts, and for me, that's all I heard.

I zoned out, since he was telling me what I already know.

I just kept nodding, pretending to listen, for about 45 minuets.

I doubt Iggy paid much attention either.

Could you blame us though? We've been through what he was talking about. We caused it. Secretly.

"Do you comprehend?" his voice roams into to my head.

"Uh, yes, of course, thank you very much sir," I answer, a little too quickly.

"Very well. It seems like you ride is here. I hope I made everything clear," he says.

"Yes, everything was crystal clear. Thank you very much sir," Iggy stands up and walks towards the door, visibly wanting to get out of here.

I thank Officer Kain and follow Iggy.

"Damn, I though I would die of boredom," Iggy whispers.

"Yup. I had no clue what he said," I whisper back.

We hurry out the door, and the creepy driver is there waiting for us.

Once we're in the car, the driver slams the gas pedal and off we go. Finally, we'll be able to get this over and done with.

Max POV.

Spending the night at Central Park wasn't the best idea, sadly.

Sleeping in trees is not for humans. My whole body is sore and I can barley move. Same with the rest of us.

"Never again," Ella groans, "am I sleeping in that damn tree. I fell off like nine times!"

"Sorry for the stupid idea guys," I say, giving everyone a sympathetic look.

"Max, we have just enough money to rent a hotel room for a night! Oh my gosh! Can we do it?" Nudge suddenly exclaims.

I look over to her, and see her counting money from our old backpack.

"Oh man! That would be so cool! And we can have our bodies rest a little," Ella agrees.

"Please Max?" Angel joins in.

Yeah, you can guess by now that I'm the one in charge of money. It can be a blessing and a curse…

"Well," I try to make a quick decision, "How about you girls rent a room while Gazzy and I just sleep outside. You know, to not waste too much money, since you have to pay per person."

"Uh, no. I want to sleep in a real bed once in my lifetime. So, if the girls are renting a hotel room, then so am I," Gazzy protests.

I glare at him, and then roll my eyes. "Fine," I say through my teeth.

He smirks and grabs the backpack with the money. "Later, Max," he waves.

The girls follow him, and they head toward one of the hotels.

I start going back to Central Park.

I better make myself comfortable on the trees, since that will be my bed for a while.

Fang POV.

We just dropped off our things in the hotel room, and now are standing next to Central park.

We decided to start looking for Max here since this is where most criminals live.

Iggy and I lived here for quite a while…

"So lets start," Iggy says, roaming through his backpack.

"Yeah, but what are you looking for?" I ask.

"The hand cuffs, 'cause there's a 95 percent chance she's here in Central Park," he explains, taking out the handcuffs and clipping them next to his gun.

I shrug, and start walking towards the entrance.

Hopefully this won't take long.

* * *

"We've looked in every damn tree, in every damn corner, and in every damn part of this park!" I say, frustrated with Iggy.

He claims that she's here, and says we can't leave yet. For the past few hours!

"Let's look for ten more minuets. That's it," he pleads.

I groan, "Fine."

I walk along the right side of the trees while Iggy walks along the left, searching.

Suddenly Iggy stops dead in his tracks.

"What?" I ask.

He silently points in front of him. About 20 feet away, is what we've been looking for.

Max.

"That's impossible…" I say.

"We'll follow her and once it turns dark, we get her," Iggy whispers.

"Ok, don't lose sight of her."

Max POV.

I just walk around Central Park, looking for a good tree to sleep in.

That sounds weird…

Although something bothers me. It's as if I'm being watched. I don't see anyone, but every once in a while I feel a tingling sensation on the back of my neck.

I try to ignore it though. I'm just very paranoid.

I ask some stranger for the time, and find out that it's already 8 pm.

There are almost no people in the park and it's getting darker.

Might as well as start to climb a tree.

Fang POV.

Finally. Our moment to shine.

The sun is down, the moon is up, and we can capture the infamous Maximum Ride.

"Ok Ig, you distract her, and I'll come up from behind," I order.

"Fine, but we better hurry up. She's climbing a tree," Iggy whispers.

I nod, "Ok. Go now."

I watch as he approaches her, and I carefully move behind her.

"Hello!" he calls. "Can you help me with directions?"

I see her give him disgusted look and say, "Get lost."

Wow. I like her. She seemed to really get some attitude from the last time we met.

She starts to walk away from Iggy, but he grabs her arm. That's my cue.

I promptly jump from behind the tree that I was hiding by, and shove her into Iggy. He catches her as she crashes into his chest and forces her arms behind her back.

She lets out a muffled scream and starts to protest. I handcuff her.

"Sorry, girly," I say.

She suddenly stops moving and gasps.

I turn her around to face me and she looks up at my face.

"Oh my gosh… I know you two! James and Nick!" she screams.

Iggy slaps a hand over her mouth. She said our real names, and that's not acceptable.

"Shut up!" he hisses in her ear.

She starts to protest once again, and kicks me right where the sun-don't-shine.

I suck in a sharp breath, and slap her across the face, hard.

She winces, and Iggy pushes her forward to start walking. We stand on either sides of her, holding her arms.

"You are under arrest, Max," I whisper into her ear.

"You should be also, you backstabbing pigs," she groans, trying to get out of our grasp.

We drag her straight to our rented car, and shove her in the backseat. I shut the door, and accidently slam her foot in it.

She let out a shriek.

"Move your leg," I growl at her.

She doesn't, but just keeps pushing the door open with her foot.

"Iggy, you have to drive in the back with her. She oviously won't cooperate," I say.

" 'K, you drive," he agrees.

We take our seats and drive off.

Iggy is pressing Max against the door, since she threatened to break the windows with her feet.

She looks like she's ready to murder one of us. Or both.

"So Max, I bet you remember us," I say, looking at her through the rear view mirror. She's scowling at me.

"Yeesh! That's not a pretty face," I mock her.

She starts calling me every swear word in the English language, so Iggy gags her.

"That's just not nice," Iggy sarcastically shakes his head.

I let out a low chuckle.

She's probably very confused, but we'll explain every thing once we get to our destination, which is straight to he station.

That's a two-hour drive. Just enough time to persuade her into not turning us in.

I really, really hope that our catch of the day will benefit us, not put us in jail.

**AN:** **Chapter 3 done!**

**WOOP WOOP!**

**I hope you peeps enjoyed!**

**Reviews are like candy:)**

**And I love candy!**

**Please review and share your thoughts.**

**~Fly on, Dawn :D **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So the last chapter was the only chapter where Fang and Iggy are really rough with Max. I didn't even like writing it, but it's all part of the plot. **

**From this point, Fax will start to build.**

**Here's the next chapter…**

Chapter 4

Max POV.

I never thought I would have to see these two ever again. I mean, when I met them first I thought they were awesome.

I remember they promised me food and shelter just for stealing some ring. I trusted them, and was beyond thankful. I remember even thinking the dark-haired boy, Nick, was quite cute.

Of course it was all very deceiving. They showed their true colors, and continue showing them right now.

All I want to do is get back at them, and I know exactly how. I'll make sure everyone finds out they set me up.

"So, Max. What have you been doing in your life?" Iggy all of a sudden asks.

I just scowl at him. After half an hour of driving, he finally moved to the other side of the seat and removed my gag since I stopped protesting.

"Hey, just trying to be friendly," Iggy holds his hands up.

"Friendly?!" I snap, "Are you being serious? You set me up and ruined my whole life. Then, you ran away and left me all alone in this mess. Now, you kidnapped are and me driving me to God knows where! And all of a sudden, you're becoming friendly!"

I let out an empty laugh, frustrated with everything.

"Max, I truly am sorry for, well, everything," Iggy says, and he sounds like he actually means it. What?!

I snicker, "Sorry won't cut it. But you know what will? You set me free."

Iggy is about to say something, but Fang cuts him off, "We can let you go, and we will."

I raise an eyebrow, looking confused.

He sighs, "Max, I know you are planning to turn us in. I know you hate us enough to throw us in jail, but before you do all that, we have a proposal."

He looks at me through the mirror, waiting for my reaction. I however kept my face inexpressive.

"Look, I didn't want to arrest you. I really didn't. But I didn't have a choice. You have to understand Max, it's our job," Fang continues, "So, if you don't turn us in, then right after we get credit for catching you, we'll set you free. I swear."

I let this sink in. It's a hard offer to deny, but maybe I can just try escaping the jail myself…

"And there is no escaping. Not once in history has anyone escaped our jail," Fang says, as if reading my mind.

I guess he kind of does know me from our sick and twisted past.

"I'll think about it," I mutter.

"You don't have much time," Fang warns.

I let out a deep breath and look out the window, trying to make the right decision.

Fang POV.

I never felt bad for anyone. I never felt even a pinch of guilt. I'm not into compassion and all that crap, but today something changed.

I felt as if there's a huge weight on my chest. As if I did something awful. And I did.

I ruined Max's life once, and I'm doing it again right now.

I glance at her every now and then, and she's just blankly staring out the window, at the flashing scenery.

"I not that naive little girl anymore, Fang," she breaks the silence.

I glance at her.

"I'm not taking your proposal. I don't trust you. Not after what you did," she makes her choice.

I should have expected this, but I clearly didn't.

"Max, even if you turn us in, you're still going to jail. We are offering you a great offer. Your freedom!" Iggy tries to convince her.

"Oh shut up!" Max shrieks, "I'm not stupid! I know you won't give me my freedom. You're idiots to even think I would consider your offer."

It was silent for a while, until I slammed the break and the car skid to a halt.

I turn around to face her, my face impassive as always.

We look in each other's eyes. Her lips are pressed together, and one of her eyebrows is raised as if to say 'bring it'.

"Alright Max, since you don't want our offer, then we can't go back to the station," I sigh.

"Thanks a lot Max," Iggy snarls.

She just shrugs. Her sandy colored hair falls in front of her large brown eyes. I wince when I think back to slapping her.

I reach into the cup holder and grab the key from the handcuffs. I take Max's hands and open the cuffs.

"How about we screw everything," I suddenly say.

Iggy looks at me, eyebrows raised. So does Max.

I smile slightly. "Max, I know I'm asking for so much right now, but what do you say if the three of us just leave New York. Just forget our past. Start fresh," I say, with very little hope she'll agree.

"You sure Fang," Iggy asks cautiously.

"I'm in," Max chimes in. I look at her, my eyes wide with her sudden agreement.

"Right after I do this," she says, bringing her hand up. She's about to slap me, but I catch her wrist.

"Violence is never the answer," I mockingly say.

"You slapped me and I'll slap you," she growls, and swings her hand across my face.

I let her, because it's fair.

"Alright, now are you in?" I ask, hoping for her not to change her mind.

She nods, and grins.

I glance at Iggy, and he's smiling also. I smirk, and turn around I start the car again and drive off.

Perhaps it's good that Max didn't' accept our offer. Now, we can all just forget everything and get out of here.

Maybe Max will forgive me at some point, although I doubt it.

Max POV.

This is perfect. I inwardly laugh.

This is my chance to get back at those idiots. I will make them suffer, just like they did to me.

We're leaving New York, but not our past. The only reason I sticking with them is to make them pay.

I guess they don't know me. I will always get my revenge.

**AN: Fang is starting to fall for Max, but revenge is still clouding Max's vision. **

**Although she'll soon see that Fang is perfect for her. Though there will be many obstacles…**

**They will get together, but will they stay together?**

**Please review!**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hola! I'm writing this on an airplane. Going from Europe home:) This is just a quick chapter I wanted to update. **

Chapter 5

Max POV.

Goodbye New York, hello Massachusetts. I can't believe I lived through three hours in the car with Fang and Iggy.

They annoy the crap out of me. Well, mostly Iggy. He just keeps talking about how he made a bomb with just a pair of shoelaces and a wire.

Gazzy would like him…

Thinking of Gazzy, I wonder how the rest of my little gang is doing. They probably aren't looking for me, but I wonder if they think about where I am.

Whatever. As soon as I get these two in jail, I'll go back to them.

"Max, you want to stop at this Dunkin Donuts," Fang asks me.

"Sure whatever," I shrug.

He turns into the parking lot and parks the car. I get out and say I'm going to use the restroom, but for real I'm starting to put my plan in action. Yes, I do actually have a plan.

I want to call the cops and tell them I have the long wanted James and Nick. They'll come and I'll watch from afar, to make sure I don't get dragged the rotting cell either. Since I am being searched for also.

I come in, and find only a few people. Some are drinking coffee alone on their phones, and others are chatting with one another.

Nobody's attacking me yet, so I'm guessing it's clear.

I come up to the cashier. She's young. Probably a highschool student. Her nametag says Ellie.

"Hello," I say, "I was wondering if there us a phone I can use anywhere around here? I need to call my mother because my Grandmother died this morning," I wipe a fake tear.

I'm a great liar. I don't know why I'm so proud of that though…

"Nope," she pops a bubble with her gum, looking clearly uninterested.

She takes her short blonde hair and tries it in a messy bun.

"If you're not going to buy anything, then get moving. You're blocking my view," she sneers.

I look behind my shoulder, and see Fang standing there with Iggy, talking to some girls. That's the view I'm blocking?

"Look, miss, I really need to make a call. It's urgent. Is there any way at all you can help me?" I try.

She just raises an eyebrow at me, continuing to loudly chew her gum.

I take that as a no.

Sighing, I head back to the boys.

"Lets go," I mutter. We start heading towards the car.

"You done with the bathroom? Wow, most girls I know spend hours," Iggy says surprised.

"Do I seem like most girls," I glare at him.

"No. In fact, considering your name and you boyish appearance, I thought you were a dude at first," Iggy says, punching my arm playfully.

I look at him, then on my arm, then back to him.

I clear my throat, "First of all, never touch me again unless you want to lose your teeth. Second of all, how do you call this," I pick up my waist-length, thick hair, "boyish?"

"Some guys have long hair," Iggy protests.

"Well, I'm clearly not a guy," I say.

"You sure?" Iggy snickers.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," I huff.

"You positive," he drags out his words.

"Yes! I'm a girl! I'm a freaking girl!" I get frustrated.

"Guys! What are you even arguing about! You two are embarrassing to be seen with," Fang snaps.

I roll my eyes, and we all get in the car. We drive aimlessly around Massachusetts. No one really says anything, so I try to start a conversation.

"So what do you two do," I ask.

"What do you mean what do we do?" Fang says, "We're obviously under-cover cops."

"That's it?" I say.

"Yeah. At least it's better than your hobo life. What do you do, dumpster dive?" Iggy snickers, and I glare at him.

Fang turns into a vacant parking lot, and stops the car. I look through the window, and see an aged, crumbling building with no signs of life.

"What are we doing at this dump?" I snap.

"Better get comfortable Max, we'll be sleeping in the car tonight," Fang says, throwing a blanket he got from under the seat at my chest.

"Are you for real? We barely fit in this car sitting up," I complain.

"Yup, so get as comfortable as you can," Iggy joins in.

I let out a frustrated groan. I'm utterly exhausted, and judging by these sleeping arrangements, I won't get any rest.

"I call front passenger seat!" Iggy calls, moving to the front.

"Great! More room for me!" I happily say, stretching out my feet across the seat.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no," Fang says, leaving the driver seat and going to the back seats where I lay.

He shoves my feet off.

"I clearly can't sleep at the driver's seat," he says when he notices my pissed off look.

And then, the bastard completely shoves me off and takes up all the back seats. I land on the car floor.

"What the heck?" I exclaim.

He slightly smirks and pats his chest, "This is your spot."

I start to protest, but Fang cuts me off, "Max, until we don't find an actual house, this is how it's supposed to be. So stop being so picky and go with it."

I loudly sigh. Do I have a freaking choice? Whatever.

I lie down at the edge of the seat, and lay my head on Fangs chest. It's not much of a pillow…

I pull the soft blanket over us, and close my eyes. I hear Fangs deep, tranquil breathing, and I feel it. His chest slowly rising and falling.

I don't know how much time passes. Maybe an hour. Maybe two. Yet I'm still not asleep.

Iggy and Fang are lost in a deep sleep for a long time now, but thoughts in my head won't give me any rest.

They're weird thoughts, and I kind of hate myself for having them.

They are about Fang. I don't know what hit me, but him being so close to me gives me this strange feeling. I can't put my finger on it.

The only feeling I felt toward him before is pure hate and thirst for revenge. Now though, it's different. Perhaps it's…

Suddenly, Fang grabs my waist and pulls me closer into him. I freeze. What was that? Why did he do that in his sleep?

I slowly relax. That was just an accident.

I not here too be compassionate towards him. I'm here to put him in jail for the rest of his life. I'm here to make him suffer. I'm here to make him pay. I just need to find a phone, and then he is completely screwed.

Although, at this very second, I wouldn't mind the time to freeze…

Fang POV.

Ok, I could have totally slept in the driver's seat. However, I just wanted to mess with Max. To stress her out a bit. She looks kind of hot when she's angry or frustrated.

Her head is resting on my chest, her hair splayed around.

I smile (a rarity for me) and shut my heavy eyelids, falling into the deepest sleep since forever.

**AN: I know it's not long, but I will try to update longer ones soon.**

**Fax is starting to develop, but I don't want it to go too fast so it would seem more realistic.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hi guys. Sorry it took long to update. I just came from Europe and I had a lot of makeup work for school. Here's the next chapi! Hope you enjoy :D**

Chapter 6

Max POV.

"Don't wanna interrupt your moment, but we gotta move," Iggy's voice drifts into my head.

I feel a pillow thrown at my head, but I ignore it. I just feel so warm and comfortable. Where am I?

Opening my eyes slightly, I suddenly realize where. Fangs arms are around me and I am pressed against him. We're squished together in the back seat of the car.

I feel a cool breeze and realize the car door is open. Iggy is standing outside, arms crossed and frowning.

I quickly sit up, feeling embarrassed.

"What's going on," Fang mumbles, his eyes slightly cracking open.

"We have to go, unless you want to be arrested for trespassing. We aren't supposed to be in this parking lot," Iggy says, clearly frustrated.

Fang sits up also, rubbing sleep away from his eyes.

We lock eyes, and just look at each other.

After a few seconds, I awkwardly mumble, "I'll ride in the front."

Stumbling out of the car, I clumsily get in the passenger seat. Iggy drives this time.

"How was your night?" He snickers at us.

"We have to find a better place to sleep," I say, ignoring his question.

"For me, yes. It took me half an hour to stand up after sleeping in a curled up ball like that. But you guys on the other hand, looked pretty darn comfortable," Iggy wiggles his eyebrows at me.

"I roll my eyes and smack his chest. "I was not comfortable whatsoever," I protest.

"Riiiight," Iggy says, deserving another smack from me.

"So where do you suggest we sleep, Max?" Fang asks.

"I don't know. It was your idea to leave New York. I was assuming you knew what you were doing," I glare at him.

"Nope. Fang always wings it. That's why he has a crappy life," Iggy smirks.

"You have the same life as me Ig," Fang points out.

Iggy just keeps driving, ignoring him.

"We'll stop at the next Mc Donald's. I need to take a piss," Iggy says.

"Tmi much?" I say, looking disgusted.

He just shrugs, and I turn to stare out the window.

This is going great. At the fast food place, I'll find a phone and wala! My sweet revenge is fulfilled. Then I'll secretly go back to New York, see my gang, and continue my life on the run. Sounds like a plan.

Iggy turns into the Mc Donald's and parks the car. I get out before anyone, and quickly walk to the entrance. Once I'm in, I check to see where the guys are. Still walking.

Pushing past the long line of people (and getting very dirty glances from most) I make it to the cashier.

"Sorry, but I really need your help. I have to make an urgent call and I was wondering if you have a phone I can use?" I say quickly.

The cashier is a guy, and he looks pretty decent.

"Uh, how about I just give you directions to the pay phone," he hesitantly says.

"I don't have any money or time for the pay phone. Can I please just borrow one from here? Isn't there some public Mc Donald's phone I can use or something?" I ask.

He raises an eyebrow at me. I don't know the first thing about Mc Donald's, but by this guy's face there is probably no such thing as a public Mc Donald's phone. I just made a fool out of myself…

"Well, you seem like you really need help, so I'll let you use my cell. But only because you don't seem like you're from here and you're holding up the line," he agrees quietly.

I smile gratefully at him.

He takes out an iPhone from his red smock apron.

I take it and go into a corner, since Iggy and Fang already came in here.

I go on the dial pad, keeping an eye on the boys. Fang stands in line while Iggy goes into the men's restroom.

I dial 911, and just when I'm about to click call, I look up once more at Fang. He's looking at me. Straight into my eyes. As if right through my sole.

He has slightly confused expression, but still mostly emotionless.

I freeze, thoughts racing trough my head. His black gaze is somewhat frightening.

Did he see the phone? I hope not. I promptly hide it behind my back. He looks at me for a few more seconds, until the line moves up and he faces forward.

I look at the phone, and my fingers start to delete the numbers. I literally can't force myself to call. I turn the phone off, and bring it back to the cashier, making sure Fang didn't see me.

"Thanks, " I whisper. He grins at me and puts his phone back into his pocket.

I head to the women's' bathroom, looking at Fang again. He's already at the front of the line, ordering food.

I walk in, and thankfully I'm the only one there. I look into the mirror, and see a tall girl with long honey colored hair and oddly large brown eyes.

I look worn out, with dark circles lining my eyes. I'm very thin, and look homeless. Which I am sadly.

I run my fingers through my disheveled hair, trying to untangle the knots. It's hopeless.

Sighing, I head back to the car. Fang is already there but Iggy isn't.

The car smells like fresh hamburgers and fries. I sit in the passenger seat, right next to Fang who's in the driver's seat.

It's silent. Fang just looks at me, but I can't look back. His gaze is so intense.

"Who'd you call?" he asks after a long moment of an uncomfortable silence.

Damn it.

"No one," I shrug, playing it cool.

He sighs, still starting at me. The silence is back.

"Look Max, I know you want to get your revenge. I know you have a plan to turn us in. You can't lie to me," he says, reading me like a book.

I look at him, slight shock on my face.

"Why did you let me go with you then?" I ask.

He shrugs, "We didn't really have a choice, and I had hope to convince you into liking us."

I don't say anything, but I have a feeling he already convinced me. I just couldn't click the call button when I had a perfect chance to turn them in.

Right then Iggy comes.

"Sup guys," he slams the car door, breaking the silence.

Fang tosses him a burger and gives me one.

"We can park the car somewhere unnoticeable and just take a walk. Maybe we'll find a place to sleep," Fang offers.

"Sure," Iggy agrees, his mouth already full of hamburger and fries.

We drive around and find an empty lot. Once we park, we get out and start to walk. Fang and Iggy are messing with each other, and trying to see who can stuff the most fries in their mouth.

Boys…

At least Fang isn't mentioning our talk from earlier.

Officer Janner POV.

"I can't even contact them, and I have not one clue of where they are!" I scream in frustration.

I trusted them completely, until this point.

"Send out a missing persons alert all around the US. Make sure it has their and the girl's picture," I order my secretary.

She quickly nods and starts quickly typing.

Once I find them, I'll make sure to take away all my generosity I had for them.

Fang POV.

I just found out that I'm bloody amazing at stuffing fries in my mouth. Well, better than Iggy at least.

"You two are utterly disgusting," Max pretends to hurl.

I laugh and throw my arm around her shoulder, "Lighten up Max. Don't need to be so serious."

She glares at me and shrugs my arm off.

"Can we just find a shelter," she grumbles.

"Come on Max. You're no fun," Iggy playfully shoves her.

She didn't think of it as too playfully. Suddenly, Max starts to bolt after Iggy and he starts to run away. I laugh inwardly. It's funny to see that look of horror on Iggy's face and that look of evil on Max's.

Max catches up, and pounces on him. He falls on the ground with Max on top of him.

Iggy groans in pain.

"How's that for a shove?" Max snarls at him, getting up.

I can't contain my smile. Max is smirking too.

"Lets go," she says.

"Wait for the injured!" Iggy calls.

Max and I chuckle, obviously not waiting.

**6 Days Later**

Max POV.

We've slept in cars, trees, and random houses for the past couple of days. I can't take this anymore. That's why I plan to build a little home like I did with my gang back in New York.

It's around nine pm, and we are walking through an ally to sleep in the damn car again.

%$#$%!

"I am freaking exhausted on sleeping in that car!" I complain.

"Well what else do you suggest Max?" Fang says, clearly tired of my daily complaining.

"All of this was your idea! You should of came up with a place to sleep before dragging me to another state!" I scream.

"You had a choice Max!" Fang yells back.

"A choice? What the hell? I didn't have a freaking choice. You call either going to jail or Massachusetts a choice?" I yell louder.

"Guys!" Iggy says, before Fang can answer, "Shut up, will you?" We fall silent, and hear footsteps.

"Finally, our 500,000 dollar prize," I hear a man's voice at the end of the ally.

I look at Fang and Iggy, my eyebrows raised.

"Who the hell are you?" Fang says, in a deadly calm voice.

"That doesn't matter," another voice says, this time from the front of the ally.

Before we can react, we are being attacked from both sides.

Two men come at me, and I decide to put my fighting skills to use.

I have no idea who these people are, but I don't like them.

One of them tries to grab me, but I snap my fist out and punch him straight in the jaw. He stumbles back, not expecting that from me.

Iggy and Fang also start fighting off the four men that come at them. Actually, three men. One of them was a girl around my age, 16.

I do a spinning roundhouse and aim towards one of them, but they are much bigger than me. He catches my leg and pulls me down.

I land on my back and my breath leaves in a whoosh.

I get another kick in my rib cage. I let out a scream, but it is muffled by someone's hand.

Suddenly, I feel a chilling sensation in my veins, as if ice water is slowly running through me. My head rolls to the side and I don't see Fang or Iggy where they were just before I fell.

I look at my arm, and see a needle sticking out. I gasp, and my vision falters, until going completely black.

**AN: Sorry for the cliffy.**

**Please give feedback so I would know if this story is worth continuing.**

**~Fly on, Dawn 3 **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: So I'm guessing my posting schedule is turning out to be a new chapter each week. **

**I would love to update more frequently but apparently seven hours of school isn't enough so the teachers decide to give us a crap-load of homework. **

**Whatever, here's the new chapter…**

Chapter 7

Max POV.

I open my eyes, and my lids feel heavy. A metallic taste fills my mouth and my throat feels swollen. My body feels sore, as if I just got hit by a car about five times.

Once I completely come into reality, I look around me. I'm in a tiny room with one small window and a slowly turning ceiling fan above.

I see Fang and Iggy sitting against the wall, their eyes on me.

"How you feeling?" Iggy asks groggily.

"Better than ever," I sneer sarcastically.

"We've been here for about two days," Fang says.

"Two days? How? Where are we exactly?!" I ask surprised.

"We found out that we are here until we are picked up by the cops. There is a decent reward for us. Our capturers kidnapped us for the money," Fang says blankly.

I stare at him in shock, "How come I was asleep for so long?"

"The drug they injected in us wears off on girls slower than on guys," Iggy explains.

I shake my head in disbelief of this whole messed up situation. Pulling my knees to my chest, I sigh loudly, still feeling like crap.

We sit there in silence for a long time, until the door swings open.

There are four guys, looking same age as Fang and Iggy.

"Here they are," one of them snarls, a sick grin wide on his face.

The guys part, making a way for someone. My eyes turn wide as I see about 7 cops come in the room.

They roughly jerk us to our feet and start to handcuff our wrists. Of course, we put up a fight.

Fang snaps his knee up and hits the cop right in the gut. That makes him really angry. I mean the if-this-was-a-cartoon-steam-would-be-coming-from-his-ears angry.

The cop brigs out a pistol and threatens Fang with it.

Meanwhile, Iggy and I are aggressively resisting the men coming at us. I call them some very pretty names, until we all have guns pointed at us threating to blow our brains out.

The cops look wild with rage, which makes them crazily unpredictable.

So, deciding to not risk my life at the moment, I slowly put my hands up. Iggy and Fang mimic my position.

"You cooperate or die!" one of them screams, frustrated.

"Cool. Is that like you motto or something," I say simply.

That makes them even more pissed. They expect me to be craping my pants from fear, but I've been in too many near-death situations to take this seriously.

"You think you scare us? Ha! You think that we're that type to tremble under your every move," Iggy laughs.

One of the cops steps right in front of Iggy's face and sneers, "You won't be laughing when you're on the floor dying from this bullet."

"Daaaaaammnnn! Sheesh! You really need to see a dentist, man. I think you have something rotting from a decade ago in your mouth," Iggy waves his hand in front of his nose in the "it stinks" gesture.

"Arrest them!" he bellows, not taking Iggy's sarcasm anymore.

I on the other hand am laughing way too hard because of Iggy's comment. I see Fang grinning slightly also.

And yes, I'm still laughing as a couple pistols are being pointed at my head an as I being arrested.

Yup, it's evident I don't take life seriously at all.

Fang POV.

Max was laughing like a maniac as she was being roughly arrested. That's' what I love about her. She just doesn't give a crap about anything, and sucks it up.

She's strong, and that strangely attracts me to her. I know most guys, particularly my friends at my former school, want their girls to be weaker than them. To be dumber than them. Smart girls scare them.

Yet not me. Max is perfect. Okay, pretend I didn't say that…

We were literally being dragged to the police car. Once we get there, Iggy got stuffed in first, then Max, and then me.

My shoulder pressed hard against Max's, and I… liked it? I don't know.

What the heck. I being driven to possibly spend the rest of my life in a room with three walls and a barred cage, and I'm sitting here getting excited over touching the girl I slapped not a while back.

I'm messed up. But thank God not as messed up as Iggy. That's a whole different story…

Well then. I'm ranting in my head now. Yea, I'm not much of a talker, by my thoughts are really active.

I glance at Max, and she feels my look so she turns her head toward me.

She's not laughing anymore, which is kind of disappointing. Her laugh is like that song that you can listen to all day and feel like the happiest person in the world.

"Fang, look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you how special you are. So you can stop making those big eyes at me," she suddenly says.

"What do you mean? I'm not trying to make big eyes at you," I protest, a little panicked that I let my impassive mask fall without noticing.

She just rolls her eyes and looks forward.

"Fang likes you Max. Wow, you're clueless," Iggy unnecessarily chimes in.

I shoot him a death glare for saying something so inaccurate. I. Do. Not. Like. Max.

"What the hell Ig?" I snap, "Just cause you like Max doesn't mean I do."

"Ah, Fang is getting defensive," Iggy shakes his head in his annoying sarcastic way.

"Will you two shut up! Nothing matters anymore. The next 50 years of our life will be spent in a freaking cage. And I bet the most exciting thing will be is when we'll get our rock-hard wormy bread for lunch once a week," Max says.

"Come on Max, be the optimist we know and love," Iggy snickers.

Max ironically glares at him, making him flinch slightly.

I look at the window, feeling mixed emotions about, well, everything. But mostly, I just think about Max…

* * *

It took too damn long to get to the stupid jail, it took too damn long to get in the stupid jail, and now it's taking too damn long for the 'talk' we're supposed to have with some important people.

All this is very exhausting. We're all in a cell right now. All in the same one, waiting.

It's been at least five hours, and I'm getting twitchy. I hate small spaces in general.

All of a sudden, I hear a 'ping' on the metal bar of the small window.

I exchange glances with Iggy and Max, and as if there was some silent decision, we all crowd around the widow.

"I'll boast you up," I tell Max, since the window was pretty high up.

She nods. I grab her waist and hoist her up to sit on my shoulder. She weights almost nothing, so it isn't hard.

"Do you se anything?" I whisper.

"Oh my gosh," she breaths quietly.

"Max!" I hear a loud whisper come from outside, "Don't worry, I'll get you out. Just hold on." I hear the person's footsteps as they run away

Max looks like she'd seen a ghost. I carefully set her down on the ground, my hands on her shoulders though.

"It was someone form my past. A someone I though I'd never seen again…" she trails off.

"Who?" I try not to push her to hard, but I really want to know.

"Yeah who?" Iggy joins in.

"My first love that I though I lost," she says barley above a whisper, her eyes starting to glisten. I've never seen Max this close to tears before. It was starting to scare me. Yet what really scared me and somewhat, hurt me, was when she said 'her first love'. I don't know why that bothered me so much.

She steps away from me, making my hands slide off her shoulders and hang limply by my sides.

She locks her hands behind her head, looking pale.

"How did he find me? What are we going to do?" she asks herself.

"Err, um, so, uh, I have no idea who this guy is, but maybe tell us him name?" Iggy suggests, looking clearly uncomfortable.

Max turns on her heel to face Iggy.

"Dylan. His name is Dylan."

**AN: Once again, sorry for the cliffy. I have this story pretty much planned out so some parts must include cliffiies.**

**Oh and I want to thank ZipUnZipIt for reviewing for every chapter. It means a lot!**

**And please review, guys, cuz I really need to know if this is good or bad. I will totally accept criticism and suggestions. Love it? Hate it? Review!**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: YAY! I can post early this week because my teachers decided to NOT bombard me with tons of homework! XD**

**This is the next chapter, and I just wasn't to say that Max and Dylan don't really mix in here. **

**And no, I am not making Dylan a jerk and a backstabbing dog. I don't hate him with a burning passion like some of the FAX fans out there. **

**He seems like a terrible person in Max's perspective, but she is just misunderstanding. She will soon realize that Dylan is a good person.**

**But don't worry! Dylan might bend FAX but he won't break it!**

**Sorry if you wanted me to have Dylan be a loser scumbag with a crappy life. XD I ain't about that!**

**Enjoy…**

Chapter 8

Max POV.

I have never been this nervous in my entire life, and I've had some pretty nerve racking situations! It's as if the world around me was spinning, and I couldn't get focused. Dylan was coming here. Now. Oh God…

"Max, you need to take a chill pill. Are you worried your boyfriend Dylan won't like your hair, or something, 'cause in my opinion you look great," Iggy winks at me.

I groan at him in frustration. He can't take anything seriously.

I pace around the cell, feeling like crawling the walls. Gaw, how much I hate small spaces. It's like they limit my thoughts.

"Max, if you would just talk to us, maybe we could help you?" Fang tried to suggest.

I was just about to rant to him how he has no freaking clue of what I'm going through right now, when I heard a whack and the guard by our cell landed with a thump on the ground.

We crowded around the front of the cell, when I came face to face with him. Dylan.

He's grown so much. I used to be taller, and now he towers over me like Fang with Iggy. His usual light blonde hair has turned a shade darker, now the same color as mine.

"Max," he says my name as if it weighs a hundred pounds.

I pull my eyebrows together, getting lost in his sky blue eyes.

He looks at me and millions of memories flash through my head. From the time we first met to the time we last saw each other…

"So… are we just going to stand here awkwardly and stare at each other or make a run out of this dump?" Iggy, of course, had to break the silence first.

Dylan snapped back into reality, and quickly searched the unconscious guard for the keys. Once he got them, he promptly unlocked the barred door, and we sprinted out.

We ran down a long hallway, with Dylan in the lead.

At the end of the hall, he suddenly halted and that left me plummeting straight into him. Iggy crashed into me and Fang smashed into Iggy.

"What now?" Fang whispers, clearly annoyed.

"We can't be seen," Dylan hisses.

We wait until the area is clear, and break into a sprint again. The wide glass door leading outside is too noticeable, so we decide to take the small door around the corner with an illuminating EXIT sign.

When we burst outside, the fresh air hits me like a train. It feels sooooo good, I can't even.

Ya, I more of a hair-in-the-wind kind of girl.

"Freedom!" Iggy bellows, pretending to kiss the ground.

"Shut up Ig! We can still be heard," I warn him.

"So what now?" Fang asks.

"How about you guys come and stay at my place and we can figure everything out from there," Dylan suggests simply.

"Uh, how about, no," I snap

Everyone gives me a confused look.

"How did you find me? I want to know everything," I demand.

"Lets just go to my place and I'll explain," he says.

"I'm not going to 'your place'," I make finger quotes, "You have to tell me how exactly you found me and why exactly you are acting so nice," I taunt.

"I'm being nice because I care about you Max," Dylan tries.

"Oh come on! Everything thing you do is for your good. Don't act like I don't know you!" I snarl.

"Max, I understand your need to 'discuss your feelings and emotions', but I don't give a crap about who this guy is. I just want some chow, so let's move," Iggy interrupts.

"Yeah, I have plenty of food," Dylan says, not taking his eyes off me.

I stand there, deciding what to do.

"Fine," I huff, clearly showing my frustration.

The guys chat amongst themselves, getting to know each other. I walk aside from them, hating every second of this baboon being back my life.

Fang POV.

Dylan seems cool. Yet something bothers me. I just can't put my finger on it.

Maybe it's the way he makes Max feel. I can see he makes her feel miserable, although I think Iggy and I make her feel miserable as well…

Ahem.

Anyways, we just walked into his driveway, which can totally be confused with a street entrance.

"So, why are we stopping by a medieval castle?" Iggy asks.

I see his point. The house is freaking humungous and looks very vintage. And when I say vintage, I mean like it was literally taken from a fairytale and brought into this world.

"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment I guess?" Dylan chuckles.

"How the heck is this your house?" Max asks in awe. "Last time I saw you, you were living in a box and dumpster diving for lunch."

"Things change Max," Dylan glances at her.

We reach the entrance and step inside the house.

The interior matches the outside. There are lavish crimson curtains and polished wood floors. Snow white carpets coat the floor here and there, and peach colored walls have faint swirling designs.

"Wow," Max snickers, "So you left me for this? Nice."

Dylan's eyes flare with anger, and his chest starts to rapidly rise and fall with deep breaths.

"How about we go talk in private Max," he snaps.

Without saying anything, Max walks out the back door at the end of the wide hallway (seriously, our school halls are more narrow than that) and Dylan follows.

The door slams shut, and Iggy and I exchange looks.

"I'm going to go help myself to some food, because I'm ready to start eating this couch right here," Iggy says.

I chuckle, and he goes to try to find the kitchen, in the million rooms that are here.

Max POV.

We walk away from the hose and sit on an old swing set standing in the backyard.

"Do you still love me," I suddenly burst out. I don't think he was expecting that…

Dylan looks at me and shakes his head in disbelief.

"You still doubt me?" he asks, barley above a whisper.

I don't know what to say, so I just drop my head in my hands. I wish it wouldn't be this way. I wish we would stop being so frustrated and closed off around each other. I wish it were like before.

"I will always love you, but I have a feeling you don't feel the same about me," Dylan mutters.

My temper flares and something in me snaps.

"Are you kidding?! You left me! You knew that I loved you more than my own life, but you still left! And now you're saying that I didn't love you?! God! You're so full of yourself!" I practically spit, standing up and kicking a rock with all my force.

"I had no other choice," Dylan protests, also standing up.

I turn on my heel and stand just a few inches away from his face.

"You idiot," I snarl, shoving him in the chest and making him stumble backwards a little, "You had a choice, and you choose not to be with me. And now you decide to waltz back into my life and expect me to take you back with open arms?!"

"Max! The only reason I left was because I wanted to keep you safe!" he yells at me.

"That's a load of BS!" I shriek. "My life was already on the line! The best thing to do was to stay with me!"

"That's total crap, Max! I was being watched from every corner! I didn't want you to get hurt with me!" he screams

"Oh so instead you just chose to hurt me without you," I whisper shakily, tears rapidly filling my eyes. I blink them away. I _never_ cry.

He's breathing hard, just like mine.

The echo of our fight rings in the silence.

We look at each other blankly. It's like I don't know who he is anymore.

"Max?" I suddenly hear a calm voice. Fang.

I wipe my face from any emotion, and turn to face him.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"Nothing. Lets go inside," I mumble.

Fang gives Dylan a glare and wraps his arm around my shoulders, leading me towards the house. I stiffen at his touch, but relax almost immediately.

I press into his chest, trembling from the fight. I feel utterly awful. I should not have exploded like that, but he shouldn't of either.

Once we're in the house, I slump on the sofa, not bothering to talk to anyone.

Dylan comes inside, and immediately comes towards me.

"Lets go upstairs and have a normal conversation," he says, looking determined.

"I don't…" I start but Dylan cuts me off, "Max I really want to clear things up between us."

"You should go Max. You should restore your relationship with this dude. Do you know how cool this house is!? He's a keeper…" Iggy barges in the room. He's holding a hamburger and a bag of Lays chips, stuffing the food in his mouth.

He brings a slight smile to my face. His stupidity/irony/geniusness (that's not a word, but whatev) is quite entertaining.

"Yeah, it's best to clear things up," I sigh.

Dylan gives a grateful smile, and we go upstairs.

I won't bother describing the extremely amazing house, but you can just imagine one of those mansions that rich bratty kids in movies have, and you'll be good.

We come into a room that I assume is his.

I shamelessly flop on the bed, and he sits on a recliner.

"Sorry for exploding on you like that," I say after a few moments of just soaking in the heavenly feeling of the nice cool bed.

"Max, I just want you to understand why I had to leave," Dylan says softly.

My aggressive side is about to get the best of me and I prepare to give him a piece of my mind, but he just starts talking.

"We both escaped Jeb. We both found shelter and food and survived together. We shared our first kiss together. How could you ever think I would leave you under my own will after that?"

I shift uncomfortably.

"I know we were barley teens," he continues, "but we really did love each other."

Memories are crowding my head. We escaped Jeb in New Jersey, and that is where we shared this amazing time together. But then Dylan left. I pickpocketed for some money, hopped on a train, and was in New York.

I don't know why I decided on New York, but I'm guessing it was because I just wanted to get away from the state that held my most painful memories.

That's when I met Nudge, Gazzy, Angel and Ella. That's also when I met 'James and Nick' or also known as Fang and Iggy.

That's where I became a so-called 'criminal'.

Dylan breaks me out of my thoughts, "The only reason I left is because I found out that Jeb was hunting for me specifically. I still don't know why, but I didn't want you to get caught by him just because of me. I gave you your best chance," Dylan explains.

Gosh, I just hate that name. Jeb is a disgusting human being that I don't know how to describe.

"Why didn't you even say goodbye?" I ask.

"I wanted to, but then I would never be able to leave," he smiles weakly.

"Jeb didn't get you though," I say quietly.

"Actually, he did," he assured, "I was his captive until the police found him. He's in prisoned for the rest of his life."

I stare at him in shock, and he continues.

"As for me, I got rewarded. They promised me a house in Massachusetts," he gestures around himself, "And a free education once I turn 16. I'm 17 now, so I've been living the dream for about a year now," he says, letting out a hollow laugh.

"Wow," I whisper.

"Of course this dream was missing a very big part," Dylan looks straight at me, and that very big part becomes obvious.

"I've been looking for you all over. Then one lucky day I saw you and those guys on the news. They said that you are long wanted criminals and told the exact jail you'll be staying at," Dylan chuckles, "I remember I literally dropped everything I was doing and rushed to you. They said no visitors, so I decided to free you the illicit way."

I let this soak in. Everything he said demolished any anger I felt for him just a few moments ago.

I stand up, and so does he.

Hesitantly, we come together until we are inches apart.

Then, he did what I would never do first.

He closed the space between us. He put his lips to mine, and I freeze.

He starts kissing me, until I start kissing back. He steps forward and I step back, until I feel the wall pressing against me. His hands are on my waist and mine are around his neck.

Gosh, this felt so familiar. I can't describe what I felt at that moment, but it was somewhat terrifying.

I don't know how long we kissed, but we were rudely interrupted with the door opening.

"You guys done…" Fang's voice trails off.

I break away promptly from Dylan.

Looking at Fang, I see he has a confused expression. Also, kind of, hurt? I don't know.

"Uh, I just wanted to talk to Max, but I see you guys are a little busy, he stutters.

He turns to leave, and I go after him.

"Fang!" I call.

He goes down the stairs, three at a time, and I follow.

"Fang, wait up!" I call again.

I suddenly see him stop dead in his tracks and his eyes turn slightly wider.

I reach the end of the stairs and come to stand next to him.

I turn to see what he's looking at, and my eyes turn as wide as dinner plates.

Through the wall-size window, I can see dozens of police-cars, all flashing blue and red.

The cops are making their way to the door. Fang and I exchange troubled looks.

"Oh my gosh. Where's Iggy? We have to get out of here!" I say, panicked.

Before we can react, the door is forced open, and from that point, everything goes downhill.

**AN: Please don't hate me for making Max and Dylan kiss!**

**It's just all part of the plot.**

**Anyways, sorry if this chapter made you bored a little because of all the Max and Dylan conversations. The next one should have a little more action.**

**Oh and soon you will find out who exactly Jeb is so stay tuned!**

**Thank you for reading! PLEASE REVIEW!**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hi. Hello. **

**So this is a quick chapter I wanted to update before the dreaded Monday comes. **

**I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL!**

**Ok, lets move on with the story…**

**Ps. I think I have to start putting these in:**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Maximum Ride. Shocking. I know.**

Chapter 9

Max POV.

When will I have, like, 5 minuets without my life being threatened!? Apparently never!

The cops already found out we escaped, already found out Dylan helped us, and are already at our doorsteps with pistols and everything!

Right when the whole room is filled with fat men in their too small blue uniforms, Iggy casually strolls through the door with a taco in his hand.

He almost falls over when he realizes what he came into.

"Uh… wrong time?" he stutters.

"Everyone! Hands Up! Now!" one of the cops barks.

I try to keep it cool, and roll my eyes.

"This again? Really?" I say.

"Who was that?" Dylan comes down the stairs.

"Oh Dylan! You here to join the party!" I sarcastically trill.

He gives me a worried smile, and that's the last straw for the police. They rudely start arresting us. This is all too familiar.

Now, if you know anything about us, you know we won't fold our hands and willing accept the handcuffs. We fought them like it's for the last slice of pizza.

It wasn't hard, until I hear a gunshot. The whole room froze, and we look in the direction of the sound.

Fang is pressing his palm against his arm, that's gushing fresh blood, and the cop from across, the one that shot him, looks sickly proud.

"Who's next?" he growls. "You kids want to give us a hard time? We'll give you a hard time."

"How about we just leave each other alone, and no one gets hurt," Dylan suddenly says.

I look over to him, and give him a 'what are you doing' expression.

He ignores me and keeps his eyes on the cop that shot Fang.

"You broke into _my_ house, you're hurting _my_ girlfriend and you're shooting her friend. That, my friends, is just not acceptable," he says calmly.

I lost him at 'girlfriend'. I was so not his girlfriend. Never again.

Dylan slowly reaches behind him and carefully opens a drawer in a metal cabinet, without breaking his gaze.

He takes out, shockingly, a gun. There's way too much guns involved in this situation for my liking…

I instinctively take a step back.

He points it at the police guy. The cop, at the sight of the gun, looks like he crapped his pants.

"If you don't want your buddy cop to get shot in the face, I would suggest you leave," Dylan says, still perfectly calm.

Everyone is in an uncomfortable position right now. Iggy is trying to unnoticeably finish his taco while wiping some blood off his shirt.

Fang is most likely dying of pain inside, because, you know, he just got shot in the freaking arm! Yet he still has him impassive mask on.

The cops look completely lost. And I am trying to predict how this mess will end.

Dylan takes a sudden step forward, and the cops _freak out! _

"Wait! Stop! You have no right to do this! Stop this instant or we'll shoot you first," was everything I heard among the police.

Dylan moves his finger on the trigger, and that's it. They all literally scatter out of the house.

Right when I thought we won, some douchbag takes out his own gun and starts to shoot multiple times. I duck, as do Fang Iggy and Dylan.

The cops come rushing back in when Dylan lowers the gun, and a bloody fight breaks out again.

Gunshots fill the room, and I weave past them as if playing dodge ball. At the same time, I throw a few punches and kicks here and there.

I notice Fang totally ignoring his hurt arm, which is literally dripping with blood, and snapping his arm out directly into some poor guy's jaw. The punch had so much force the cop flies back into the wall. Ouch.

He's knocked out. Point for us!

We need to knock them all out. That's the only way to escape.

I do a roundhouse kick into ones head, and his heavy body lands on the ground with a thump, drawn into unconsciousness.

There's about the same amount of cops standing as the amount that passed out. Damn, we're good. We would make a good gang.

Thinking of gangs, I wonder how Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Ella are do…

_Whack!_

A full-blown force hits me right in the back of my head. My vision falters for a second and I stumble forward. I started seeing black dots dancing around, until everything went black.

I started to fall back, and when I was sure I was going to hit the floor, a pair of strong arms caught me.

I immediately started to feel bloody wetness coming from one arm, and realized it was Fang.

From then on, I had no clue what was happening. My brain chose to give up on me and I passed out. Very inconvenient on my side.

* * *

You know that feeling you get right before you're about to barf your guts out? That disgusting tightness in your throat?

Well, when I opened my eyes that's basically what I felt, but a thousand times worse!

I woke up staring into dark eyes. So dark almost black. Fang.

I feel dry leaves under me, so I assume we're outside. Why though?

Suddenly memories come rushing back. The cops. The guns. The pain in my head.

"Oh my gosh," I bolt upright, but Fang lightly pushes me back into a laying position.

"You got hit pretty hard. You need to rest," he says softly.

"How about your arm?" I ask, "You caught me with your hurt arm when I was about to fall. Why?"

He shrugs, "My arm is fine. You would of probably got trampled over if I didn't catch you."

I glance at his arm, and find it caked in dry blood, with a deep imprint of the bullet right above his elbow.

"You didn't have to do that just for me, Fang," I say.

"Don't flatter yourself Max," he snickers, "I just would miss your sarcastic self if you died."

"Oh, but you still would of missed me," I smirk.

"No. Not you, your sarcasm. It actually makes sense unlike Iggy's" he chuckles slightly.

"Oh my gosh! Did you just show an emotion Fang? I should right this down!" I say in awe.

He rolls his eyes and I smirk at him.

After a few moments of silence, my brain came back to reality and I noticed who was missing.

"Where are Iggy and Dylan?" I ask.

"They went to find a place to sleep. As you know we're homeless again," Fang says.

"What, and they left you to babysit me," I sneer.

"No, they just left us injured behind," he says, moving his bloodied arm a little.

"So, are we at some park?" I ask, looking around.

"Yeah. But don't worry, there's like no people," he gestures around with his healthy arm.

I sigh. Once again we have to sleep in some damn trees, and eat out of the freaking dumpster.

The worst part is, that we dragged Dylan into this mess. Well, Dylan kind of dragged himself into this, but still.

"Oh, great. There are some school kids coming toward us. We can't let them see us," Fang notices, kneeling down next to me.

He starts to help me up, but I have to show my stubbornness of course.

"I'm not handicapped, I can get up," I snap, shoving his hand off me.

"Max you can barley move, and they are really close. We have to hurry," he snaps back.

I groan, and sadly let him.

He helps me stand up, placing his hands on my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me up. The hem of my shirt lifts up and his warm palm presses against my bare skin.

I hold my breath at his touch, but he doesn't seem to be bothered.

When I move, my body screams in pain. It's almost unbearable.

I'm on my feet, but I can't move them. Everything is spinning.

"Lets go?" Fang says, already two steps ahead of me.

I grab the tree next to me for support, "I can't walk," I mumble in defeat.

I see him smile a little and resist the urge to smack him.

He comes next to me and effortlessly picks me up bridal style. He carries me to the other side of the park, and that's where we spot Iggy and Dylan.

"Where you guys going?" Dylan asks, annoyed at mine and Fang's position.

"We had to get away from some people that were there," Fang coldly answers back.

"You guys playing wedding?" Iggy smirks.

"Max can't walk," Fang says simply.

"So did you find a place to sleep?" I say, getting right to the point.

"Actually, I think you'll like this one Max," Iggy beams at me.

"Yup. I got us a hotel room with some money I had on me," Dylan says.

"Just for you Maxie! Until your booboos heal!" Iggy keeps smiling like an idiot.

"Shut up Ig," I glare at him.

"Lets start going now, we have to check -in in half an hour," Dylan warns.

"Okay, lets go," Fang agrees, starting to walk with me still in his arms.

"Uh, how about I carry Max, Fang. I know your arm is really hurt," Dylan stops us.

Before Fang can answer, Dylan gently takes me into his arms.

"Ok, I'm not some rag doll you can toss around, so how about I just try to walk myself," I complain.

"You'll walk too slow," Dylan says, simply starting to walk.

I huff, to show my frustration.

"Some how many rooms do we have?" I ask.

"I only had the money from my pocket, so one room, two beds," Dylan answers.

Oh joy… and I was excited for a good nights sleep…

**AN: I hope you liked that chapter. **

**I'm not promising, but next chapter might include a little more of Fang and Iggy's past.**

**We'll see!**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW SO I WOULD KNOW HOW THIS STORY IS GOING!**

**I take criticism well so tell me your thoughts. Do you want FAX quicker or do you want some Max and Dylan moments first so it would be more realistic?**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: So I was just reading through my first chapter and realized that I mentioned Dylan at the police station Fang and Iggy worked at. That isn't meant to be there because when I just started this story I wanted Dylan to play a different part in the plot. I revised it now though so Dylan is not in the first chapter. Thanks for reading, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am not the owner of Maximum Ride. All credit to JP.**

Chapter 11

Max POV.

We all stand in the hotel room, staring at the two queen size beds.

"Well, since I'm the injured one, I get the bed," I say, and flop on the soft mattress.

Iggy throws himself on the other bed, sighing in delight. Fang and Dylan exchange glances. They look nor happy nor sad. Emotionless.

"Where are we supposed to sleep? The floor?" Fang asks.

"Exactly," I reply, closing my eyes and enjoying the crisp white sheets covering the memory-foam mattress.

"Come on guys, don't be such sissies. The bed is huge and you won't even feel the next person," Dylan says, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

I ain't sharing my once-in-a-life-time real bed experience with nobody. My bed has a couple blankets, so I take one and throw it at Dylan's chest.

"Here, put this on the floor and sleep on it. I am in a lot of pain right now and need a whole bed just for me," I say.

Iggy gives a blanket to Fang, and he rolls his eyes.

So that's how it went, I was in heaven on earth with Iggy, while the other guys were uncomfortable on the dirty hotel floor. Such gentlemen.

Fang POV.

I don't know why, but Dylan is pissing me off. He's all, 'Max this! Max that!'.

It's been five days since we spent the night at the hotel, and now we're back to our crappy life as hobos. Dylan was added to the list of 'wanted' for helping us 'criminals'.

I'm sitting on the grass, with Iggy next to me. It's around sunset, and Max and Dylan are together far in front of us.

Only their silhouettes were seen as they were walking together.

Suddenly, I see them stop. Max starts yelling at him. I can't make out what though. Dylan takes a step toward her and yells back.

He looks raging mad, and somewhat dangerous. Their argument gets louder, and when it looks like they are about to break out in a physical fight, I get up and come over there. Iggy follows me, since he saw everything too.

I walk over to them, and grab Max by her shoulders, pulling her back slightly.

"Before you two kill each other, lets chill out," I offer.

Dylan gives me an icy glare, and stalks off angrily. Max shrugs out of my grasp.

"What the hell do you two want?" she snaps. "We were perfectly fine."

"He looked like he was about to punch you in the face," Iggy says.

Max just stares at us for a couple of seconds, and then does something that completely scares me. She starts bawling. Is this really happening? What are we supposed to do? Errr…

Max POV.

My whole life I learned to suck everything up and keep myself locked from any vulnerability. From the torture of Jeb, to the heartbreak of Dylan leaving. From being blamed for something that was an utter set up, to now living absolutely nowhere. I'm hungry, and cold, and tired of this crap.

I hate Dylan now, because of the terrible things he said to me. He asked me to get back together, and I clearly rejected him. Then, out of nowhere he exploded at me.

He said that he lost everything he had because of rescuing me, and I said that he didn't have to save me.

He called me everyone's problem and an ungrateful bastard.

So, I did the most embarrassing thing ever. I just started to cry in front of Fang and Iggy. I wanted to stop but I couldn't.

"Hey, you ok?" Fang asks.

"Clearly not!" I scream in frustration, shoving my shoulder against his as I walk past him. Gosh! This SUCKS!

Before I can bolt away, Fang grabs my arm and tugs me back.

"What did he say to you Max?" he demands, looking somewhat mad.

"Nothing! I just want to be alone!" I say, trying to hide my tear streaked face.

"Max, just talk to us, ok?" Iggy comes to stand next to me.

"Why the hell do you suddenly care about me? Huh? If I'm remembering correctly, you were the ones who brought me into this mess!" I snarl at them.

They don't say anything. That's what I thought.

Fang POV.

I realized that I can't comfort people _at all. _I had so much to tell Max. I wanted to tell her how bad I felt for treating her like I did. I wanted to tell her how much of an idiot Dylan is. Yet no words came out of my mouth.

To see her break down like that was hard. Of course, she'll never know that.

Iggy put his arm around her shoulder, and I expected her to shove it off. Yet she didn't. She probably feels too weak right now.

Right when I thought when this situation couldn't get any worse, guess what! It did!

I swear, we must have a chip or something. Cop cars surrounded the park. Dozens of them.

And in the middle of all the commotion, my jaw almost hits the asphalt when I see Officer Janner.

I suddenly hear him yell, "Don't hurt them! I just need to talk with them."

This makes me feel a little better, but I still feel very threatened to be surrounded my all these people. I just hate small spaces in general…

Mr. Janner comes up to us calmly. No sign of threat yet.

I look over to Max, who is furiously trying to wipe the tears of her face. I come to stand on the other side of her and Iggy.

He stands in front of us, inspecting each carefully.

Sighing, Officer Janner starts talking, "You have no idea how much I hated you when I found out you betrayed me. I was about to kill you myself."

He waits for our reaction, but we all just blink.

"Now, I cooled down, and made a decision. I don't want to punish you, because I had a very similar experience in my childhood. So, I will take you back to the station, but you don't have the job anymore. You will do community service and attend your school. I will be your legal guardian."

I have mixed emotions about this, but it's not like I have much of a choice.

"As for Max," he continues, "If I was a good cop, then I would lock you up with pleasure. But I'm a good person, so I will forgive you with pleasure."

Max looks at him with disbelieving eyes.

"You'll attend school with Fang and Iggy," Mr. Janner adds.

I mean, I knew Mr. Janner was a kind person in general, but now he is just being unrealistically nice…

And none of us even noticed that Dylan wasn't here.

**AN: So if you didn't make the connection, the cops attacking them several times was like erasers in the original Maximum Ride.**

**And no, Dylan is not leaving the story. He'll be back and cause plenty of drama :D**

**Thanks for reading! Review Please!**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry I didn't update last weekend. Was kinda busy.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. They get to go to school and deal with all the students and everything. Of course, I don't want to make this another highschool cliché. So don't worry 'bout that :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't want to stun you with the news, but I AM NOT the owner of Maximum Ride.**

Chapter 11

Max POV.

I was super cautious around this Janner dude. He was too nice. I'll admit though, it might just be my paranoid self, but it might not.

The drive back to New York was quiet. The tension was real. No one knew what to say because our relationship with each other was complicated.

As much as some of you might have been hoping, we did not leave Dylan. After he chilled out from our fight, he came back. He looked pretty shocked to see all these cops here at first, but now he's just emotionless. Kind of like Fang…

Right now I'm lying in some bed in some room they told me I could stay in (at the station). I'm staring at the dark ceiling, thinking in the perfect silence.

My life just feels so unstable right now. Just several hours ago I was running from these people, and now I'm lying in their bed. I'm trusting them. I'm starting highschool tomorrow for goodness sakes!

My life went from the streets, to captivity with Fang and Iggy, to freaking highschool. What am I, some sort of normal teen now?! Gosh…

I think about my hot mess life for a while, until I'm completely submerged into a deep sleep.

* * *

I wake up to something horrible. That sound! That ringing! Uhhhhggg! What the hell!

It might be the most terrible things I've ever heard. Where is it coming from?

I crack my eyes open a little, and see a little bed stand next to me. Bingo.

I slam the small table as hard as I could. I hear a crash, and the aggressive ringing finally stops. Ahhh, that's better. Right when I'm about to go back to my sweet dreams, someone rudely barges into my room.

"Rise and shine princess!" I hear Iggy's voice.

He comes next to my bed, but I pretend to be asleep.

"Damn, you totally murdered your alarm clock," he mutters.

Oh so that's what it was…

He snatches the curtains open, and light floods the room. I groan at the sudden blinding.

Next, he pulls the covers off my bed, humming a happy tune.

"It's time to go to school! You'll love it Max. Just make sure you don't scare anyone," he says.

Right. School. How could I forget?

I swing my hand to punch him away and he ducks right in time. I sink back into my pillow, hoping he would just give up and leave.

"Breakfast is ready Max, unless you want to miss it," Iggy warns.

I thought this bribe over in my head. I had a feeling that breakfast will be the best part of today's day, so I finally decided to get up.

Ignoring Iggy, I went straight to my little private bathroom. Splashing cold water on my face really made me leave the sleepy daze I was still in. I quickly ran a brush through my ridiculously long hair and brushed my teeth.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed that this is the first time since forever that I saw my appearance for longer than a few seconds.

My large brown eyes were bloodshot and my small puffy lips were slightly chapped. The 'prettiest' part of my face was probably my long black lashes. At least they took the attention away from the dark crescent shapes sunken under my eyes, from the lack of health and sleep.

Sighing, I headed towards the kitchen in the small built-on house near the main police station.

Iggy, Fang, and Dylan are already there, with empty plates.

Before I can even grab something to eat, Iggy throws something at my chest. I swiftly catch it, and notice that's its clothes.

A pair of simple black skinny jeans and a grey t-shirt .

"Your school clothes. I mean, unless you wanna go like that," Iggy waves his hands, gesturing to what I'm wearing now.

Basically, I am wearing pajamas. So I'm pretty grateful for the fresh clothes.

I put the clothes on the couch, uttering Iggy thanks, and grab some French toast from the table and shoving it in my mouth.

"You excited for your first day of school Max?" Dylan asks me.

"No, You?" I snap back.

"Jumping with joy," he mumbles.

"You guys will love it there. You get to, like, sit in a classroom and learn about crap you don't care about. Then you get to go to lunch and eat food, well, if it's edible. And finally you get to sit and waste your life in more classes," Fang says, taking a sip of his O.J.

Gee, thanks Fang. I'm eve more eager to go now.

Fang POV.

The overly nice Officer Janner drove us to school.

Now, I don't want you to fall out of your chair from shock, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing Lissa again. I mean, she's the 'popular girl' and if Max can see that someone like her likes me, maybe she'll see me as a better person.

Or, she'll mistake me for a narcissistic douche that actually cares about what people think of myself.

Max is just so unpredictable.

"Alright, we're here," Officer Janner stops the car in front of the gigantic building.

Students are crowding the front lawn. Some are cheerleaders doing routines. Some are just talking. And others are standing in the middle looking pretty. Aka, Lissa.

I look over at Max and Dylan. It's their first time in this school so clearly they don't look too thrilled.

"Do you want me to hold your hand Max?" I smirk.

She gives me a blank stare and gets out of the car. Iggy Dylan and I do too, and Officer Janner drives away.

I hear Dylan give a low whistle as he examines the building.

Before we can do anything, Lissa comes running up to us. Her friends Tess and Bridge are right next to her.

"Fang! Oh my gosh! I thought you, like, died or something!" she says, hugging me tightly.

"Hey guys," I say to her and her friends.

"This is Dylan and Max," I introduce them.

"Hi!" Lissa trills brightly at Dylan. When she turns to Max, she gives a more dull hello.

"Hey Fang, why don't you go get their schedules and I'll hang here," Iggy offers.

"Ok, lets go to the office," I wave Max and Dylan over.

Iggy just wanted to be with Lisa probably. He always liked her.

We get to the office, which its much more silent than the outside with a bunch of chattering teens.

The secretary looks up at us through her thick glasses.

"What?" she snaps.

I see Max raise an eyebrow at her.

"They are new so they need their schedules," I say in a bored tone.

"Names?" she asks shortly, ruffling through some papers.

"Wow, you sure are a talker," Max grins.

The secretary stops moving, and glares at Max. "I don't know where you came from, but in this school your bad attitude won't be tolerated."

"You call that bad attitude? Oh, do you want me to show you some real bad attitude?" Max protests, coming closer to her desk.

I grab her arm and pull her back.

"Chill out," I say, and she rolls her eyes.

"Their names are Max and Dylan," I tell the secretary.

She snatches two papers from a file and shoves them in my hands.

I say thanks and we leave her office.

"What's up with her?" Max asks.

I ignore her and pass her the schedule.

I look Dylan's over and notice we have most of our classes together. Max has just a couple of classes with me.

The bell suddenly rung and students flooded the building. The familiar sound of chatter and slamming lockers filled the main hall.

I notice Lissa, Maya, Bridge, Kate, Star, Ratchet, Tess, Iggy, and Sam all walk through the door in a group.

I didn't want to talk with any of them right now, (especially Maya because of our complicated past…) so I promptly decided to get out of the hall.

"Your locker is 521 Max. Yours is 345 Dylan. Good luck," I say, and quickly head to class.

Max POV.

Fang just left Dylan and I standing in the middle of the hall.

"I have Spanish first," Dylan says.

"I have Biology," I say, right as Iggy comes up to us.

"You two look like lost little puppies," he flashes us a grin.

"Whatever. Do you know where the biology room is?" I ask him.

He points down the hall.

"K," I say, and start heading towards it.

When I arrive, I find most of the desks to be full. The teacher was shuffling through some papers at his desk.

Everyone went silent when they saw me. Gosh, how much more awkward could this get.

Thankfully, I spot an empty desk in the back next to some guy. On my way over there, someone grabs my arm. I stop and see a girl with long bright red hair. She's wearing tight shorts and a blue tangtop.

"Hi, I'm Lissa! Your Fang's friend right?" she asks loudly so the whole class can hear.

"Uh, yeah," I reply.

"Oh ok! Well you can sit with me at lunch today because Fang is sitting with me," she flashes a perfect white smile.

So apparently where you sit at lunch is a big deal…

"Ok whatever," I say, prying her hand away from me.

Once I get to the desk, I drop my backpack on the floor and slump in the chair.

"Hey what's up? I'm Sam," the guy next to me says, nudging my lightly in the shoulder.

I turn and look at him. He has honey blond hair, kind of like mine, and light eyes.

"Max." I say shortly.

"Cool name," he gives me a small smile.

"Alright class, I'm sure you met our new student Max. Everyone say hello and continue with yesterday's worksheets. Max, come up here and I'll give it to you. Make sure you meet one of your peers after school to get you caught up," the teacher says.

He doesn't look too excited to be here.

I got the worksheet, and for the next 45 minuets of class Sam tried to help me out. He's a cool guy.

Right when I finished up the first page, the bell rung. Ugh, two more pages.

"So you wanna meet after school tomorrow so I can help you?" Sam offers, gathering his things in his backpack.

"Yeah sure," I agree. I mean, why not.

"You ready Sam? Lets go," Lissa comes over to us and links her arm around Sam's.

"Yeah. See you around Max," he says, heading out the door with Lissa.

Next class, English.

* * *

The classes before lunch were pretty uneventful. At lunch though, is when the craziness started.

So get this, I come in the cafeteria with my innocent self, and I get literally trampled. I land on the ground with two people on top of me. I noticed they are girls.

Everyone is standing in a semi-circle around these girls, roaring with excitement. They scramble off me and I quickly join the circle, not wanting to be part of whatever this is.

"Come on! Put her back in her place! Kill her!" was things I heard from the crowd.

It was a fight.

One of the girls, a small blonde, swings her skinny arm with incredible force and punches the other one across the face. Her head swings to the left so hard that she stumbles back.

She has dark hair and looks a little taller. She straightens up and shoves the blonde.

"Wooo! You go Beth!" the crowd yells. I guess they are rooting for the tall dark haired one.

The blonde girl falls on her back from the push, slamming her head on the hard marble floor.

The crowd grimaces slightly at the thud.

Beth comes up to the fallen girl and kicks her repeatedly in the ribs.

I have to admit, this is kind of cool.

The blonde won't give up though. She manages to catch Beth's ankle and pull her down on the ground. When Beth is down, she straddles her waist and slugs her across the face several times.

Beth's head is whipping to each side with each hit.

The crowd bellows eagerly, encouraging Beth to stand up. Finally she manages to by spitting blood in the blondes face. That made the punches stop for a split second, and that was enough for Beth to get up.

She delivered an uppercut to the blonde's face, making her let out a shriek.

Both of them look bloody and bruised. The cafeteria floor had splashes of red.

Right when the fight was heating up, Fang and Iggy come barging through the door. Fang pulls the blonde girl off Beth and Iggy pulls Beth away.

"What the hell is going in here?" Fang asks, looking pissed.

Wow Fang, thanks for stopping the highlight of my day…

Beth was screaming and trying to get out of Iggy's grip. She looked like she was ready to murder the blonde.

Next, a bunch of teachers came in and blah, blah, blah.

That was the most exciting thing all day. They made everyone leave the cafeteria because it was a mess in there. Basically, we didn't even have a lunch. So much for my awesome plans with Lissa.

The next couple classes were with Iggy and Fang.

I sat with them on either sides of me. We got about five warnings to stop talking.

"So why did that fight piss you off so much," I whisper to them as the teacher babbled on about the Crusades.

"Because if Officer Janner found out that there was a fight and we didn't stop it, he wouldn't be too pleased. We're basically like the security of this school," Fang whispers back to me.

I nod in comprehension.

The bell finally rings, signaling the end of the day. Thank God!

Officer Janner picks us up and drives us back to the station.

I go into my room, and right when I'm about to lock my door to change, Fang comes in.

"What do you want?" I ask, clearly annoyed.

"I wanna talk," he shrugs.

I raise an eyebrow, "What, you wanna share your feelings."

"Shut up Max, will you," he calmly says. "For real, I just want to apologize for everything I did to you."

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, and then burst out laughing.

"Sorry! I just didn't expect you to be the sorry type!" I say through my obnoxious giggles.

Fang comes close and puts his hands on my shoulders, looking intently down at me. This is weird…

I stop laughing and give him a 'what the hell are you doing' expression.

We look in each other's eyes for a while. I don't know what it was, but it felt good. It was kind of like the feeling I had for Dylan before he was on my hate list.

"I hope you can forgive me one day Max. Although I know that'll be hard," he says oh so softly, his breath lightly blowing on my face.

Silent moments pass until he slides his hands from my shoulders down to my arms and finally holding my hands.

We stay like that for a while. He then gives me an actual smile, (no not his usual smirk. like a genuine smile.) and leaves my room.

I'm just standing dumbfound like an idiot. What just happened?

Fang POV.

I want to thank Lissa. I want to thank her for letting me have such a great example as a comparison between real and fake.

_She is fake. Max is real._

Max has been through so much crap in her life, but that doesn't define her.

Lissa is more scared when she gets a pimple than Max when she has 50 guns pointed at her face.

Now that's attractive. Not being so damn dramatic. Being strong. Being smart.

I used to never be really into girls because I thought they were all like Lissa and her friends. I mean, I was into girls, but not into who they really were. If that makes sense.

I'm lying in my bed right now, thinking about how much Max changed my way of thinking. No one would know of course because I rarely show my thoughts.

But I know, and it's refreshing to have someone like her in my life. I never regretted anything more that hurting her. That may sound cheesy, but it's true.

Max just has this strange way of being perfectly imperfect. Her imperfections include being too violent or dressing like a bum or having zero social skills. Yet that is simply amazing.

I can't quite describe it, but I feel it. Hopefully she feels it too.

**AN: **

**For ToLateForMe- I think that's a great idea! I might include it in my story but no promises! :D**

**I hope ya'll liked that chapter and pleeeaassseeee review because that is the only way for me to know if this story is worth continuing.**

**And sorry for any mistakes cuz I wrote this at about 12 am.**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I don't really like this chapter. It just feels a bit too rushed. Whatever. I'm still going to post it because I'm too lazy to write a better one :D**

Chapter 12

Max POV.

The teacher gives me a disapproving look as I aggressively shove my papers in my backpack. I return her a sweet smile, and walk out of the classroom after the rest of the students.

Finally lunch.

I noticed that even though I was in school for a couple of days, I already find it a huge waste of time. I'm kind of starting to think that my old life was better.

I used to be dodging bullets and now I'm sitting here learning about crap I don't care about and asking some old skank if I can take a piss. It's pretty depressing actually. Also the fact that Officer Janner pulled me in for a talk doesn't help.

He was asking me about how I broke into the Minueta building and what I intended with that. It was my perfect time to spill to him how Fang and Iggy made me break into it, but I just couldn't. I guess my raging hate towards them burned down a bit.

I talked to him, and tried to explain as best as I could that it was a stupid mistake. He calmly listened to me and said that my crime is forgiven and forgotten.

It was almost to good to be true. As I said before, he's way too nice.

Whatever though.

I arrive at the lunchroom, and immediately spot Fang and Iggy sitting with Lissa and a bunch of her friends. One of them being Sam.

That reminds me. I have to go over his house to study. Well that's something to look forward to…

I grab a lunch tray and sit between Iggy and Fang, across from Lissa.

"Hey Max, how you holding up in highschool," she asks, giving me a "caring" smile.

"Uhh, pretty good actually," I reply boredly, stabbing a piece of chicken with my fork.

"It's stressful, I know," she says. The whole table is silent as she's trying to give me therapy up in here.

"Stressful? The most stressful part was having to change in front of a bunch of girls in gym class. Other than that, I'm totally chill," I say.

Everyone's still just quietly eating… ok then.

I stuff my face with rubber tasting chicken nuggets, and Lissa gives me a weird look as she properly eats a small cut piece.

After a few moments, she talks again

"It must be hard though. You know, as a homeless orphan with such a serious disease. We're your friends. We can help you. You're lucky to have Fang and Iggy take you in for the nights," she says, fake sympathy in her voice.

…

"What?" Sam looks at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh gosh! I didn't tell you guys," Lissa gasps, "Max has a nasty skin disease, so for your safety don't touch her," she gives a pointed look at Fang for some reason, "and she doesn't have a home since her parents died. Fang and Iggy are generously taking care of her for now."

The whole table looks at me in somewhat of a disgusted manner. Fang is staring at Lissa with a deadly glare. Iggy looks confused. Lissa has a retarded smile playing along her lips.

My expression must have been somewhere between confused as hell and pissed-off-ness.

"Last time I checked, I was perfectly healthy. I am not an orphan and I am certainly not homeless," I say in defense.

Before this moment, I saw Lissa as a harmless, mildly slutty, unicorn. Now I know she's a rumor-spreading bastard.

You can probably guess how that affected my life. Lissa and her nasty friends got everyone in the school caught up on my 'crappy life' and 'skin disease'. I obviously denied it aggressively, but everyone took Lissa's word over mine. Everyone avoided me like the plague.

Iggy and Fang were on my side thankfully. That 'study time' with Sam though was canceled. He said he had a thing to go to, bit we all know that's not the reason.

So, thanks a lot you redheaded, backstabbing, conceited, fake, moron. Damn, I hate her.

* * *

It's my third week of school. All I've been thinking about these past few days is Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Ella. I wonder where they are. I wonder if they're looking for me. I've been missing them, so my mood wasn't great.

Also Lissa made it worse. She was clinging to Fang every available second. She hated the fact that he didn't believe her 'skin disease' story.

As I'm walking to my history class, I suddenly see Officer Janner next to the office door, talking with the principle.

Weird. What's he doing in school?

I then see Lissa walking by them.

"Hi dad!" she waves all of a sudden at Officer Janner.

And that is how my trust for him went plummeting down at the speed of light

Lissa is his freaking daughter?! What in the actual hell! THIS is why I have major trust issues. It's like a plot twist in real life.

He smiles back at her warmly, and I grimace in disgust. He then sees me and calls me over by waving his hand. I almost didn't go, but I had to know why he was here.

I follow him into the office, and find Iggy Fang and Dylan there.

"We have to go right now. Sorry to pull you out of school like this but it's urgent," Officer Janner says quickly, practically shooing us outside. Fang, Iggy, Dylan and I exchange weird glances, but head outside to his car. Dylan claims shotgun as I pile in the back with Fang and Iggy.

Officer Janner looks… wild? He slams the gas pedal and starts going around 80 miles per hour. He has a smile on his face that doesn't look too healthy. We ride in silence, all wondering what's going on.

Fang's leg and shoulder is pressing against mine. He feels tense, kind of like me.

"Hey," I whisper softly to him, "You know he's Lissa's dad right?"

He looks at me in surprise, clearly not knowing. "Really? Are you kidding?" he asks quietly. I shake my head.

The car suddenly skids to a halt. I peer out the window and find that we're in the middle of freaking nowhere. Dry, yellow grass is visible for miles and silence fills the air.

Officer Janner turns to us. "Finally! The moment of my gain. Sorry not sorry, kids."

At this moment we were starting to get a little worried. And it was for a good cause, because guess what happened next.

If you guessed that a ruthless kidnapper that likes to play around with human bodies named Jeb shows up from my past, them you are very much so correct.

The car doors burst open from all sides and we are dragged out by four men. They throw us on the spiky grass. Jeb was standing by a huge van, holding the door open.

I started to hyperventilate. Everything was happening so fast around me, but all I could do was stare at Jeb and his sick grin.

Painful memories that I buried long ago were ripped back open. Unwanted images flashes in my mind of Jeb practically killing Dylan and I for his insane pleasures. My palms started to sweat. I started to lose it.

Both my arms were grabbed by someone, and I tried to resist among the shock of seeing Jeb. Only it just earned me a forceful punch in my head.

They started to stuff me in the van, along with Iggy Fang and Dylan. We were all fighting back, but our capturers were inhumanly strong. Probably another one of Jeb's 'enhancements'…

The van door shut, and that's only when I realized that we weren't alone in there. Four familiar pairs of eyes started at me helplessly. Nudge. Ella. Gazzy. Angel.

I sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of them. They looked so young and afraid. Even Gazzy's fearless mask was starting to slip. The pain, both mental and physical, seemed unbearable. Knowing Jeb, I'm afraid that we can count the amount of days we have left to live on our fingers. And I knew I should have trusted my senses about Officer Janner. He turned out to be a traitor like everyone else I've crossed paths with in my life.

The van started moving along the ragged road. We had a long way to New Jersey. The place Dylan and I escaped and hoped to never see again. We called it the School.

Fang POV.

It felt like lifetimes passed by the time we got to our destination. Though I still can't accept the fact the Officer Janner is a traitor. He basically sold us to this kidnapper. Now I know where Lissa gets her personality from. I hate her even more since she started that rumor about Max. But that doesn't matter right now.

The back of the van opened and blinding light flooded the dark enclosure. I squinted, as did everybody else. There were four more kids in the car, and I noticed that Max kept looking at them in a loving way. Like she knew them.

I, along with the rest of the group, was roughly thrown out of the van into a group of men. They dug their nails into my skin as they shoved me along to an entrance into a large building.

It was truly massive. The doors swung open and they brought us down the wide hall. A repulsive smell of antiseptics filled the place. Nothing except for the buzzing of computers and printers was heard.

I look over at Max. The men grabbing her are elbowing her in the ribs as they go, laughing. Rage builds up as I see how they're handling her.

We're brought to a stop in front of another door. It's opened and all eight of us and pushed in. The door locks.

Before we can do anything, a beeping sound starts. The beeps get two times faster every two seconds, and that's when we now exactly what it is.

We all grab on to one another, (I tend to grab on to Max), and jump as far as we can from the rhythmic sound.

I jump on Max, bringing her down to the floor, and we roll together to the right as the whole middle of the room violently explodes, shattering everything. An ear-splitting, brain-rattling boom radiates from the bomb. Pieces of wood and other debris pierce my skin. I can't hear anything but a ringing sound, because I think the explosion killed my eardrums.

Even the ceiling breaks and falls downward. It hits me and Max, breaking a bone or two most likely.

Everything hurt like hell. My head felt like it was going to split in two. I lay there, with Max still in my arms, for a while. A deadly stillness follows the massive explosion.

Max is clinging to my shirt as if for dear life. And at that moment I realize that if Max looks scared (and we all know how much scares her) then there is really something to be scared about.

**AN: Yeah so a lot happened in this chapter. And as you can already tell, Jeb is not a good guy. I just hate him in general so I might as well express that in this story.**

**Please review! I'm begging you! (hey that rhymes :D)**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Disclaimer: Unless I'm a rich and famous 68-year-old man with the initials JP, I don't own Maximum Ride. Sheesh, I don't even know why we have to put these things in…**

Chapter 13

Max POV.

"Is everyone still breathing?" I croak out, and immediately start coughing from the thick, powdery dust.

Jeb blew us up to weaken us. You know, so we would be easier to control. I'm too familiar with his sick ways.

I hear a soft moan to my left. I slowly turn my head and find Nudge cracking her eyes open a little. Despite our situation, I'm so happy to see her, Ella, Gazzy and Angel. It's refreshing.

Suddenly I feel movement under me. Just then I still realize that I'm literally on top of Fang. I scramble off, and he starts to sit up. Eventually everyone is conscious. Nobody speaks, obviously still dazed by this whole thing.

In a few minuets, the door creaks open. It's Jeb. He has that idiotic smile on his face that makes me want to slam it against a brick.

"Max," he breaths, "I missed you. But not as much as I missed Dylan. Now he's the real miracle."

Silence.

"Alright," he claps his hands together, "I want to test your strength first before I consider any procedures. You all are quite strong for surviving the bomb, but I need more proof."

"I'm pretty sure that makes you a sociopath," Iggy says.

Jeb is unfazed by the comment, and continues talking. "Gazzy against Nudge, Fang against Max, and Iggy against Ella will fight to the death! Angel and Dylan will proceed with me."

"What fresh hell is this?" I snarl.

"No cursing Max," Jeb shakes his head.

"You want to see cursing?" I challenge.

"Max," he warns.

Ignoring Jeb, I called him some very colorful names. Use your imagination.

"Max! This is not how you used to be!" Jeb exclaims.

"Well, ya. In case your insanity is blinding you, I'm not 10 anymore," I spit back at him.

He sighs deeply, drawing his eyebrows together. "Officer Janner sold you to me as obedient subjects, and I will be very disappointed if you won't cooperate."

"Good, then be prepared to be disappointed to death, you asshole," I say, clearly outraged by the fact that he thinks that we'll follow his every command. I'll make sure to make this as hellish for him as possible.

"Enough! Bring them to the arena, boys." Jeb shouts. I feel a spark of achievement for getting under his skin.

All of us except Dylan and Angel (for some reason) are grabbed and shoved out of the destroyed and dusty room.

As I'm passing Jeb, I spit in his face, deserving a hard punch in the ribs from one of the men carrying me out. Jeb clenches his jaw, and I give him a smile. But it's a smile that says 'I hate you so freaking much that I can't even descried it in words'. Can you pull one of those of? Bet you can't.

We're brought to the 'arena' or whatever. It's divided into three sections. Ella and Iggy are put in the first one. Nudge and Gazzy are pushed into the second one. Fang and I get the third.

"I don't even know how to fight," Nudge says in a shaky voice.

It pisses me off that Jeb makes her so scared.

"We're not fighting anyone Nudge. Don't listen to this loser," I tell her over the metal boundaries dividing the 'arena'. They are about 4 feet tall, so I can see her.

"Actually Max, yes you are. If not, then you'll suffer the consequences. And I'm warning you, they will not be pleasant," Jeb says, looking me straight in the eye from a platform above.

"I'm pretty sure there is nothing as unpleasant as looking at your ugly, rotting face," I say.

Jeb turns around and wordlessly nods his head toward one of the men with him on the platform. He presses a button on a keyboard, and a buzzing sound starts.

Before I can react, a vibrating and extremely painful sensation attacks my body. I try to resist the urge to scream, and right when I'm about to collapse, it stops.

"That, my dear, was pure electric shock from the ground. You don't cooperate, we turn it on again," Jeb says.

"Oh my gosh Max are you ok?" I hear Ella say.

"I'm fine, Ella."

"So unless you can fly, you have no way of escaping this shock," Jeb gives me a small smile. "And if you're under this shock for longer than 30 seconds, you die."

Death doesn't scare me, but I can't die just yet. What good will I be to my gang if I'm dead? Dylan and I are the only ones who have been here before and might be the only ones who can help escape. And who knows where Dylan is.

This would be the perfect time for something extraordinary to happen, like me sprouting wings. And we all know the chance of that happening.

Fang POV.

"Begin!" Jeb yells.

His echo rings in the silence. None of us move. How can he expect us to fight each other? To the death?!

A few motionless seconds pass, before the dreadful electricity turns on. For everyone, including me.

It hurt like hell. It felt like life times before the pain stopped. I feel bad that Max had to go through this twice now.

"HOLY CRAP! Are you even human!" Iggy screams at Jeb, still shaking.

"Fight!" Jeb says sternly.

"I don't hit girls. Can I fight with Fang?" Iggy asks.

"Ya, I really don't feel like hitting a girl. Max has no chance against me," I try to explain.

"Uh, actually, Fang has no chance against me," Max protests, coming up to me and smacking me on the shoulder.

I playfully shove her back, and she pushes me harder.

I hear small giggles from the two new girls. Nudge and Ella I think. Iggy starts chanting 'Fang! Fang!' as the kid named Gazzy (I think) starts chanting 'Max! Max!"

Max swings her open palm toward my cheek, but I catch her hand and lightly twist it so her back is facing towards me. She gets out of my grip and unsuccessfully tries to slap me again.

We all have amused smiles, almost forgetting where we are.

"Enough!" Jeb suddenly bellows. "Enough of this silliness!"

"If you didn't catch up yet, we can't be taken seriously," Iggy says, bouncing on his toes a little.

Jeb looks mad. Like really mad. And that makes us happy.

The electric shock came again. This shut us up. It was harder than last time. I swear, my hair stuck up like pricks on a cactus.

"You better lis-," Jeb starts lecturing us when a woman comes up to him and whispers something in his ear.

Jeb suddenly looks excited. "Dylan's ready for procedure!" he exclaims. "We'll finish with you tomorrow," he tells us, and bolts out the door.

The lights turn off and it's pitch black. I wouldn't even see my hand if I waved it in front of my face. I swing my arms around until feeling Max. I take her wrists and she takes mine.

"Did I just go blind or is it this dark?" she asks.

"It's this dark. I can't see squat," I hear Iggy's voice from somewhere.

Max and I walk toward the boundary and climb over so we're with the African American girl and blond guy. Gazzy and Nudge I think. I hear Iggy and Ella climb over to their side too so now we're all together.

"Damn, they could have at least kept the lights on," Iggy mutters.

We all sit down randomly, and just talk about useless stuff. Like getting to know each other. Apparently before Iggy and I took Max, she hung out with Gazzy, Ella, Nudge and Angel.

I feel bad for the Angel girl, as does everyone else. She's only ten.

* * *

We've been sitting here for hours. For the whole night in fact. We can finally see the sun peeking out through the small roof window. Thank God for the light.

"Oh my gosh I have an idea," Nudge gasps.

We all turn to her.

"Do you see that guard guy by the door?" she whispers. "He doesn't look older than seventeen, and we all know what guys are like at that age."

"Uh, what are you suggesting?" Ella asks.

"I'm saying that we should make like a human pyramid and boast up one of us girls. She should go and turn him on. He won't be able to resist and then do everything she says. And then he'll let us all go free!" Nudge says, excited about her idea.

"What do you mean turn him on? How?" Max asks Nudge, raising an eyebrow.

"Kind of like making him hypnotized by using your physical attractiveness. Max, you should go. You have pretty big jugs."

Uh… thanks Nudge. That made Iggy Gazzy and I automatically look at Max's 'jugs'. That made everything painfully awkward, and we all received a dirty glare from Max.

Although Nudge was right…

"What the hell? That's a terrible idea!" Max scowls.

"Do you have anything better? Because we're just wasting time right now while Angel and Dylan could be dead at this point," Nudge pushes.

After a few moments, Ella makes the decision. "Fine I'll go. Nudge is right. We can't waste time here."

"Yes! Come on guys lets quietly boast her up," Nudge whispers, and we all head toward the tallest wall that prevents us from leaving.

Since the wall was about 20 feet tall, we had to make a pyramid-type thing.

Iggy and I held up Max and Max held up Ella. Now let me tell you, it's easier said than done.

My arms were shaking from the weight as Ella literally jumped to reach the top edge of that freaking wall.

"Damn, I would suck as a cheerleader," Iggy huffs, trying to keep his balance as Max's calves are moving all over the place as she tries to sustain Ella, who is struggling with reaching the wall.

Uh, why are girls so short… No offence or anything.

Finally though, she grabs on and pulls herself up. Then, she jumps down and soundlessly lands on the other side. We release Max and I catch her by her waist.

That felt nice.

Iggy breathes hard, but with a smile on his face.

"You know Max, Nudge was right about those jugs," he wiggles his eyebrows at her.

Max glares at him. "Eww, you sexist pig."

He has no shame…

"Ok look she reached the guy," Gazzy points to Ella.

She walked up the stairs on the platform, brushing off the dust from that explosion from before and fluffing up her long dark hair. She pulls her shirt down a bit to reveal some cleavage and gets a seducing glint in her eyes.

"I feel like she's done this before, because I would totally fall for her," Iggy comments.

Ella is right behind the guy, but he didn't turn around yet. She gently places her hands on his shoulders, and he promptly whirls around, alarmed.

"Shhhh," Ella mutters softly, pressing her chest against his.

He opens his mouth to say something, but she kisses him. To be honest, I didn't expect kissing. She defiantly did this before…

Max gives a little cough, looking uncomfortable.

The guy is starting to kiss Ella back. This actually might work. She takes a couple steps forward and he steps back until they hit the wall. She's running her hands all over him.

I don't even know how to describe it, but all I can say is that Ella's a natural.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and Max brings her lips to my ear.

"Look at Iggy," she whispers, her warm breath tickling me pleasantly.

Uh, pretend I didn't say that…

I look over at Ig and find him almost drooling at the scene. I elbow him in the ribs, and he snaps into reality. I shake my head in amusement. He's so desperate.

Max POV.

The disgusting scene of Ella acting like a total slut continued for God knows how long. No I'm not calling her a slut, because I know that this will get us out of this 'arena'. Just her actions.

She whispered something in his ear, and he glanced in our direction. Nodding, he typed something in on the keyboard and the locked door in the wall opened. We all sighed in relief.

"I told you" Nudge says excitedly.

Ella waved us over, and we all headed out. She blew a bunch of kisses to the guy and grabbed a pen off a table nearby. She wrote something on his wrist before running towards us.

Once we're all together again, Nudge starts asking Ella a bunch of questions while Iggy tries to get close to her.

"Guys come on!" I grab Ella's wrist. "We have to find Angel and Dylan."

We all bolt down the millions of hallways in the School, our minds racing about Angel, Dylan, and how exactly is Ella so good at what we just witnessed.

Ella POV.

It was gross. It was disgusting. It was utterly nasty.

His hands are starting to linger on my body as he roughly kisses me back. At least it's working. It's for Angel and Dylan.

I break away first, practically feeling the looks of Max and everyone else burning the back of my head.

"There's a group of people there that I want you to open the door for, and I'm all yours starting tomorrow. I'll give you my number," I slur into his ear.

He looks over to the gang, nods, and instantly opens the door. I wave for them to come out. Then, after a series of fake blow kisses, I grab a pen and write random numbers on his wrist as if that's my phone number.

Ha, if only he knew that I didn't even have a phone. I don't even have a freaking house!

I sprint towards the group, and Nudge bombards me with questions and comments. I'll be honest, her motor mouth can drive people insane.

Iggy all of a sudden became all touchy. Ew…

Max reminds us that we have to move, and we all run around like maniacs, trying to find Dylan and Angel.

Hopefully they're still breathing.

**AN: K that was kind of a weird chapter. Ha ha! Whatever. It's ok to be a little weird!**

**Please review! If I get reviews I'll post sooner!**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: HOLY CRAP! Finally I had some time to write this chapter! **

**I apologize it took so damn long. I don't have any extravagant events or a jam- packed social life, just my freaking school! **

**Ugh, I need a life…**

**Disclaimer: Do you even read these things? Well just in case, I don't own Maximum Ride. **

Chapter 14

Max POV.

If you know anything about me, you'll know that almost anything I get into it all ends in a couple bruises here and there.

We barge into one of the doors in the School. We are attacked right away by fifteen men. My fighting started out a bit rusty, but then I really got into it.

Two of them came at me right away. They try to grab my arms but I jerk back. It takes all my energy to spin my body in a 360 and deliver a powerful roundhouse in one of the men's throat.

Sheer exhilaration flows through me at the familiar feeling of using my body for self-defense. Call me crazy, but it can be pretty fun.

The guy makes a choking sound and stumbles back. I slug the other one in the face repeatedly.

In the split second I had while they recover from my blows, I look over at the rest of my gang.

Iggy seems to be doing pretty well, mercilessly slamming someone's head against the wall. Fang just threw some guy on the ground, knocking him unconscious. Ella and Nudge are sticking together, demanding the men to tell the where Dylan and Angel are while throwing punches.

Gazzy was totally nailing it also; probably ready to kill for Angel.

I'm so proud of-

OW! I got tackled and pinned to the ground.

Note to self, don't get distracted in the middle of a life and death fight.

My arms are held down by the guy's knees above my head. He gabbed my neck and chin and brought his face close to mine.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he growls.

"Uh, well, I'm pretty sure we're trying to escape this hell hole. Shockingly, this isn't exactly _The Holiday Inn," _I say, my voice choked by his hand tightening around my throat.

He brings his arm back to hit me, but I lift my knee up and slam it in his back. His arches in pain and lets my writs free.

I take this to my advantage, scrambling from under him. I didn't even have time to catch my breath when three men came at me.

I knee one straight between his legs. Another guy tries to punch me, but I catch his arm and swiftly twist it back, making it snap. I deliver a forceful uppercut to the third one, and get a hard kick in the ribs in return.

I let out a grunt from the sudden pain in my midsection.

"Max!" I hear Gazzy scream, "We should split up!"

It's a god idea, but easier said than done. But it's not like we have any other options. Dylan and Angel could be dead by now.

The thought made my chest ache. Or maybe it was because I was just shoved in my chest and knocked on the ground…

I get up, only to be kicked down again. Just brilliant…

"SPLIT!" I holler to everyone, while struggling to resist the pounds to my face.

"A little busy if you didn't notice!" Iggy yells, being practically torn apart by the men. The fight started out with 15 of them, and now there seem to be more that 25.

We are dangerously outnumbered.

The man trying to rip my face off suddenly buckles and falls with a thud. Fang broke his neck with his bare hands. The crack was loud, and the man's scream of agony sent a shiver down my spine.

Fang held out his arm to me and I pulled myself up. I mumble him a thanks, and he gives me an almost-smile. Wow! Progress for the emotionless wall!

I'm relived to notice that Nudge, Ella and Gazzy weren't in the room anymore. They split up and went looking in other rooms for Dylan and Angel. Half the men were gone, probably chasing them.

Iggy Fang and I look like we were just stuffed in a blender, and we didn't feel any better.

I grab one by his shoulders and knee him in the stomach several times.

Fang has one in a headlock. Iggy is slamming a guy with his fists at lighting speed.

After what felt like forever, they were all unconscious. There was silence in the room, nothing except our heavy breathing.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go," I say after a few moments.

The guys nod and we all sprint out of the room. We split up.

I run into every room I see. Some are empty. Others have disturbing experiments…

I barge into the last door in the hallway. A cool air hits my face and my feet sink into a thick, plush carpet. A distant buzz of computers fills the room.

The air smells like fresh paper. Everything is tidy and organized. Files, papers, books, etc.

There are three cages pushed up to the side of the wall. They're empty, but I could tell that someone was in there before.

Bright bloods smears stained the bars. I shudder.

Coming closer I see that the blood drips form a faint trail. I follow it until it stops. I look up, disappointed that I came basically nowhere.

Just rows of computers. Sighing, I turn to go back. Although something stops me. It was something on one of the computer screens.

I look around cautiously, and then slowly come up to it. There is a document signed _~Dr. Martinez_ . I try to ignore the jolt my body makes at seeing my mother's name. Yes, my mother.

_Dear Jeb, _

_I hope you consider my proposition of taking my daughter back. I'm aware that you have her right now, but I assure you that you won't get anything from her. She's too stubborn to give you any results in your experiments. I miss her more than anything, and demand to see her. You escaped prison, so that says you aren't the clueless idiot I though you were. You can be on my side and listen to what I tell you, or you can go against me. But if you give me resistance, I'll give you hell._

_~much love, Dr. Martinez_

I didn't realize how hard I was clenching my teeth. This was my mother. The one that trusted Jeb enough to give me to him.

I don't blame her for trusting him. He was her husband, and my father. Although I don't consider him as my father anymore. He lost that name a long time ago.

I let out a shaky breath. What did this letter even mean? Did my mother want me back? Of course she did. She never wanted to leave me.

I was still very young when Jeb took me to a "summer camp". That camp turned out being the school. I was so shocked that my own father was doing this to me. He's a mentally sick man…

"Max!" Nudge bursts into the room.

I jump literally 3 feet into the air. "What in the actual hell! You scared the living crap out of me!" I yell at her.

"Sorry, but we were looking for you. We found Angel and Dylan!" she says.

"Are they ok?" I ask, a little scared of her response.

"Uh, how about you come and see for yourself," Nudge answers.

Oh gosh…

I follow Nudge down the long hallways until we reach a room with a double glass door. We enter, and I find everyone in there.

Many guard men and whitecoats are lying on the ground motionlessly.

Angel has yellow bruises all over her little body. Her eyes are circled with dark rings and her hair looks limp and dark.

Dylan, however, looks much better. He's staring at me intensely. Almost as if I'm prey.

"God Max, you are so beautiful," he breathes.

Uh…

As far as I'm concerned, I look like a deformed monkey covered in dirt, sweat and blood. Yeah, very attractive…

"How about we just get the hell out of here and forget you just said that," I say, carefully picking up Angel.

"He's been saying you're name ever since we found him," Nudge whispers.

"Well that's not creepy at all. I wonder what they did to him." I say quietly.

We all file out of the room, silently praying for a swift and simple get away. We're all beat up and tired and in need of about a ton of food.

Haha! That's funny! A swift and simple get away my ass! I mean, it would absolutely out of this world for something to be easy for us.

"Max, if you don't stop moving right now I will call the guards!" Jeb warns from behind us.

I come to a sudden stop, as does everyone else. Giving Angel to Fang, I threateningly come up to Jeb.

"What. Do. You. Want. You enjoy torturing innocent 10 year olds and teenagers who just want to live?!" I snarl at him.

He gives me a smile and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Sweetheart," he says

I grab his wrist and twist it behind his back, slamming him to a wall.

"Don't you ever touch any of us again, you sick bastard. And never, _never_ call me sweetheart. No matter what you think, you are not my father. You're an asshole who deserves to burn alive," I whisper loudly in his ear as he winces in pain.

I roughly release him and he falls on the ground.

"Lets go," I say.

Everyone follows in silence.

"You and Dylan will make beautiful babies," he croaks after us.

Even though I had no freaking clue what that meant, I just kept walking.

Fang POV.

We finally got out of the School. We had to kick some more ass after Max's little chat with Jeb, but nothing we can't handle.

We took a public bus to a small park. Everyone else was staring at our less than appropriate appearance, but we didn't even care.

Once the sun set, Ella, Gazzy, Iggy, Angel and Nudge feel asleep in seconds.

Dylan however, couldn't stay away from Max. And it bothered me. It bothered me a lot.

"Max, I love you more than you can imagine," Dylan murmurs against her neck, running his fingers along her waist.

She pushed him away.

Is this why Jeb wanted to experiment on Dylan? To do something to make him in love with Max. He could of just saved himself some time and ask me to do whatever he wanted because I love Max.

You're probably like 'WHOA WHAT? SINCE WHEN? AHHHHH!"

Please don't do that by the way…

Anyway, I just decided that I loved her. It just clicked for me.

Oh, when am I going to tell her you ask? Never. I'm going to show her. Ever heard of 'actions speak louder than words'?

Just not now though. She seems a little busy with that dimwit Dylan. Would be a shame if I have to kill him, but I'll do whatever needs to be done to get Max.

Please excuse my rather emotional side. I'm just quite terrified of how I can love a person that hates me so much. Hopefully she doesn't kill me as I try to impress her.

**AN: I hope you don't mind Fang's reflection about Max. I just really want him and Max to get married, move to a castle and make beautiful babies already. I WANT TO SPEED UP FAX!**

**Although their complicated life won't let them do that :( **

**Anyway, please review! I'm not even kidding when I say it makes my day. **

**I think all fanfiction writers understand that feeling of wanting to jump up and down with joy when you see a new review, favorite, or follow.**

**Thanks and Byeeeeeee!**

**~Fly on, Dawn**


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